Allison's Story
by leeloo2606
Summary: Allison Reynolds was a basketcase. She had no friends, she hated her parents, and hated school. But all that changed after a day in detention. Now she finds herself with a different crowd at school, how will she handle her new life?
1. spring cleaning

**A/N: there are some major and not so major revisions happening to this story. If you are an old reader hope you like them, if you are new enjoy. Props again to MidnightBlue for all of you constructive criticism, it brings back memories of undergraduate school. Please keep in mind that i am in no way an english major, but that still doesn't excuse bad grammar and spelling. Ciao!**

Allison's Story

Chapter 1: Spring Cleaning

Allison Reynolds leaned against the car watching as Andy stepped into his father's truck. She could still feel the sensation of his lips on hers. Her head was spinning as she looked down at the circular wrestling patch she held in her hands. 'How exactly did this happen?' she asked herself.

There were a million thoughts going through her head as she opened up the door to her father's car and stepped in. She was quite, lost in thought, which was hardly any different from how she was the rest of the time. Her father turned to look at her, almost as if he cared, and his face was questioning.

"What?" she asked him harshly. She knew she looked different but she didn't feel the need to explain herself to anyone especially her father. He never cared before why should today be any different?

Shrugging a little to himself he pulled the car out and made his way home.

Allison finally had time to succumb to her thoughts. The most salient of these was the fact that she had just made out with the one of the most popular boys at her highschool, Andrew Clark. That probably wouldn't have been so hard to believe if she herself were popular but she wasn't. No, for the lack of a better word Allison was a social outcast. She didn't have any friends, a fact that her mother was constantly reminding her of. According to her amazingly perceptive mother, it was due to the fact that Allison had "such a bad attitude" and was "always so negative." She certainly had a good way of pointing out the facts. In retrospect, Allison could, sort of, understand why her bad attitude might drive some people away. But then, as she thought about the root of her attitude it all made sense. How was she supposed to bond with people when all of their conversations were so shallow and mundane? How could she help but roll her eyes at the insensitive bashing? And how was she supposed to be positive when her father ignored her and her mother didn't ignore her enough? No, it was easier for Allison to build walls to keep people out of her life, it was also safer. But as the events of the past hours started to replay in her mind she found herself questioning everything she once was.

Sighing to herself, Allison ran a hand through her hair absentmindedly. Instead of the usual birds nest that she called her hair, her fingers brushed through soft layers and waves. Taking out a pocket mirror from her messy purse she glanced at her reflection. "Oh shit" she said softly. She had forgotten, for a brief minute, what Claire Standish had done to her back at the library. The face that was staring back at her from the tiny mirror was not one that Allison was used to. Her messy hair was actually styled! And instead of the globs of dark makeup around her eyes, there was soft color and shimmer. Looking out of the window at the passing houses Allison carefully reviewed her situation.

The makeover, was far more than just a skin effect, it was as if all her personal barriers had been broken away. Her life wasn't miraculously perfect now and it probably never would be, but after listening to four other teenagers vent their frustrations she found that she could actually relate to them. And that was something she had never really allowed herself to do. They were from completely different worlds but they all had problems. The only differences between them were the ways in which they chose to handle those problems. Claire and Andrew, from the popular position, chose to follow the crowd instead of dealing with their issues personally. Brian, the 'brain', had taken a rather dramatic approach which could have had devistating effects, had it not ended so comically. Bender, the rebel, would lash out angrily against his problems, disrespecting authority along the way. And then there was Allison who had build up her emotional walls so high she had lost all concept of basic human interactions. She dressed rather plainly, as to not attract attention and then, quite in the opposite direction, she would engage in outlandish lies and crazy stunts that would cause people to question what she was playing at.

The, truth was, Allison wasn't trying to play at anything. She was in a way, just existing, making her way through life with just the minimal amount of effort neccessary. As a result she was socially maimed. Unable to make any meaningful connections with anybody who was worthwhile. That is the way she had stepped into the library that morning but it wasn't the way she stepped out. She stepped out feeling connected with people. Real, living, breathing, and normal human beings, again, something Allison felt she would never truly be able to do. And then there was that kiss. She brushed her fingers over her lips and smiled. Her lips still remembered.

She was still smiling to herself as they pulled up to to her driveway. Because she was such an outcast very few people knew who Allison really was. Her parents made a modest living. She wasn't rich, like Claire, but she found that her family could afford a few leisures. Her house was descent and in one of the nicer parts of Shermer. Walking up the stone path her dad mumbled something about going to the range and drove off without waving goodbye. Watching the car drive away Allison couldn't help but wonder if her father would pay more attention if she were a boy. Maybe someone that shared his atletic abilities, someone like Andrew perhaps. She shook the thought away quickly as she pictuered herself trying to kiss, herself. She unlocked the front door and walked inside. Trying to avoid her mother who was in the kitchen she ran straight up the stairs towards her bedroom in the attic.

Walking into her room didn't feel the same. Normally she would have locked her door and cranked up her stereo at full blast. She didn't feel like doing that. She slowly made her way through her messy floor. In frustration she began kicking the empty coke cans and wads of drawing paper that were littered throughout. Realizing, that her kicking was only making her room messier she began cleaning some of it up. A few hours later she was finally able to walk across her room without any obstruction.

"Allison, dinner." It was her mother's sarcastic sing song voice calling from downstairs. Her voice always reminded Allison of those 1950's black and white t.v. shows with the perfect families and their perfect lives. She laughed as she pictured her mother pulling a five course meal from the oven with her evening dress on and a little lace apron tied around her waist. Her life definately wasn't a t.v. show.

"In a minute," she cried out. She looked around at her somewhat less cluttered room once again. Cleaning up her messy life was going to take longer than she expected.

"Allison!" her mother exclaimed when she walked into the kitchen. "What have you done to your hair?"

"What?" Allison answered as she took a plate from the cupboard. "It's just hair it's no big deal."

"No big deal?" she told her wide eyed. "Why Allison, I've been telling you for ages to change that awful hairstyle of yours!" She reached over and tried to touch Allison's hair but she jerked away. "I just hope you keep it up." The singsong tone in her voice was gone. Her mother's face was stern as she began digging through her plate.

That was just like Mrs. Reynold's always able to find something wrong with a situation, no matter how good it was. But as Allison began spooning the pasta onto her plate she thought about what her mother had said. Was she going to keep up with her knew look? The old Allison would have laughed at the thought. The old Allison would have messied up her hair, thrown on a baggy sweatshirt, and put on her globs of dark eyeliner as soon as she had walked into her room. Well she still was the old Allison but now she had the attention of Andrew. She didn't feel like giving that up just yet.

She spent the rest of the night working on her room. It had been a complete disaster before. Her therapist had once mentioned that a person's personal space reflected their mental state. Allison had, in fact, felt as though her life was somewhat disorganized. She had a bad self image, she didn't have any friends, she hardly spoke to her father, and had a pretty irregular relationship with her mother. If any of that was going to change she figured her room was the first place she needed to start with. At least it was going to be the easiest.

The next morning while her perants were at church Allison blasted her favorite Cure record and put the finishing touches on her room. She took down the heavy drapes that had covered her windows. The blinds she had left allowed more light into the room. She searched her garage for extra bed spreads and found some that were decent. They were pale blue and they would add a little bit of color to her once dark room. Almost all of her things had been tucked away neatly into their corresponding places. There were a few things, however, that Allison decided to keep out in the open.

There were the journals that her therapist had suggested she try. She had started them in junior high and they were filled with poems, drawings, and daily complaints. She set these in a big plastic container along with a few of her drawings that had been pinned up on the wall. The container she set in her closet maybe sometime in the future she would visit those little tidbits of her life. When she was finished she looked around. She also left up all of her Cure posters and prints of her favorite artist Salvador Dali they at least gave inclination as to the rooms inhabitants taste. In the end of it all, her room was spotless. It was brighter and even felt larger. She smiled at her job well down and then headed to the kitchen for a soda.

While she drank in the quite room she had time again to think about what had happened to her the previous day. When Allison confessed to the group that she was there because she had nothing better to do, she had been telling the truth. She hadn't wanted to listen to her mother's constant complaints so she decided that she would much rather spend the time doing nothing. So she made up some bogus lie and convinced her father that she had recieved detention, he hadn't seemed to care.

When she first walked in to the library she felt as though she had made a huge mistake. She thought she would be in the company of a couple of students but there seemed to have been more. She had quickly taken a seat in the back and refused to look up. When, at last, dingbat principal Vernon had left she sized up the group. There was last year's sophmore prom queen, some jock, a total geek sitting right in front of her, and the school rebel that she had seen smoking out a couple times behind the football field. She had not known them so she was filled with the same prejudice attitudes as they were, she had even labled them.

Allison knew she fit a label as well. She was, as Brian had later written in the paper they had been assigned, 'a basketcase'. And because she felt that they were judging her, as she was them, she had tried to meet thier expectations. She made a spectacle of herself during lunch, filling her sandwich with strange combinations. Then she had dumped her bag in front of Brian and Andrew. What had she expected out of this, she didn't know and when Brian called her on her 'running away' business, she got extremely defensive. Later, by the bookcases she lashed out at Andrew. And even though that moment was filled with tention, it had been real. She had opened herself up to a complete stranger. And then later telling those lies. which came out so easily, and forcing Claire to confess something extremely private. Allison had managed to fit her role quite effectively. But as the day dragged on, a change started to occur. Allison's layers began peeling and she started feeling a subtle, or not so subtle closeness towards those five people. And then there was Andrew.

She felt butterflies as his face popped into her mind's eye. A smile broke out on her face and a slight chill ran through her body. He was an amazing person, even if he was a jock. She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out the patch she had taken from his jacket. The one she had ripped out, was more like it. She thought she had taken it as evidence of her time at the library, but now lost in thought, she realized that it hadn't been a romantic fairytale. It had been real. And with reality came a price, facing the consequences of your actions. What exactly, was to happen to her now. Would things just go back to the way they were?

"Shit if I know," she said to the empty kitchen. Feeling rather nervous she went back upstairs to her room.

Later on that night she stood in front of her closet with a big dilema. Tommorrow she would be going back to school. And while normally she would wake up two minutes before she had to leave the house and throw on whatever clothes she could find, this situation wasn't going to be that easy. Her closet was filled with baggy sweaters and long black skirts and black pants. In fact almost everything she owned was black. She bit her thumb nervously and shifted though her clothes. It simply wouldn't do. Frantically she began forcing her way towards the back of her closet, coming upon a cardigan sweater her grandmother had sent her for Christmas. Her mother had said it was darling and that was enough for Allison, who vowed never to wear it. She had hid it in her closet. Now she took it out and examined it, it certainly was not something she was used to but it wasn't bad either. She found a pale yellow tank to go underneath it and decided she would wear some light blue jeans with it. She even considered asking her mom for a yellow scarf she could tie around her hair. A little more relieved Allison put on her pajamas and climbed into bed. She was taking the first step, and tommorrow it was back to school.


	2. The Gang's All Here

**A/N: mild editing on this chapters. Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews! Ciao!**

Chapter 2: The Gangs All Here

_"Come on Allison you know you want to." It was Andy, he was sitting in the front seat of his father's truck, completely naked._

_"I don't think so, Sporto. Don't you have a wrestling match or something?" Allison was standing by the driver side window with a pot of spaghetti in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other._

_"Oh no! I forgot! My coach is going to kill me," he yelled and drove away in a hurry._

_Allison stood there eating her speghetti. A while later she heard the honk of a horn. She turned to see a man waving for her to move out of the way._

The horn was still honking and she was about to yell, "Okay I'll move!" when she opened her eyes. She was in her bedroom and her alarm was giving off an all to familiar beeping sound.

"Fucking dream," she said groggily. She got up and headed for the shower.

Before walking downstairs she gave herslef a quick look in the mirror. The color yellor really suited her. Not owning to any makeup that wasn't black or dark browm she had simply applied mascara and a little bit of lip gloss. Her mother had been more than happy to give her the scarf, exclaiming, "Oh mercy me, you look so pretty!" which Allison thought was extremely lame. Downstairs she grabbed her lunch and her morning caffeine and made her way to the bus stop.

Since it was only a couple of blocks away she walked to her stop every morning. She supposed it wasn't to bad, at least she didn't have to put up with her mother's driving. She passed old man Gordon, her neighbor. He was out on the lawn in his wife's pink bathrobe picking up a soaked newspaper. She surpressed a laugh as she waved and continued walking. A few moments later the familiar corner of her bus stop had appeared and her school bus was pulling in.

"Good morning children. Now,now hurry up, no pushing!" yelled Mrs. Norbert. Mrs. Norbert was a small woman and always spoke to them as if they were in kindergarten. She looked like a child herself. Her small frame barely reached the top of the stearing wheel.

Stepping on to the bus, Allison was imediately hit by the familiar smell's of the public transportation system. It was a not so subtle mixture of geek sweat and cigarette smoke. Holding her breath she hurried over to the back of the bus and opened the window. It helped but not much. Turning her head towards the rushing air she suddenly felt the presence of someone standing over her.

"Is this seat taken?"

She looked up. It was the greasy little freshman who spent his all of his time annoying the girls on the bus. But what was he doing over in her seat? He had never bothered with Allison before. She glared at him as she wondered, his face was contorted into a lopsided grin. She could see his pimples staring down at her menacingly. "No it isn't but you aren't sitting there," she responded and turned back towards the window.

"Such hostility!" he proclaimed. "Come on babe, I just want to have a little chat." He made an attempt to sit down.

"I doubt you and I have much to 'chat' about," she said as she faced him once again. "Now do me a favor and get out of my face." That last statement she had made with a contemptuous smile on her face.

"Geesh," said the greasy freshman. And he walked back to his seat.

Allison thought she heard him mumble something that sounded like 'stuck up bitch' as he walked away but she wasn't sure.

Twenty minutes later they were in front of Shermer High School. Allison made her off the bus dreaming of the day when she wouldn't have to subject herself to the misery of the yellow bus. The place was packed. Putting her head down she made her way through the crowd of students towards her locker.

"Okay people, this isn't very difficult," her algebra teacher stated. His voice was nasaly and Allison always had the impression that he had been worse than Brian was, back in his days. "The quadratic equation is at the root of Algebra and I expect you to have it completely mastered. Furthermore..."

Mr. Mitchell's voice droned on and on. Allison was finding it harder and harder to pay attention. Giving up on it all together she decided to doodle instead. She started off with a simple palm tree. In only a few short minutes the palm tree had been converted into a beach horizon. Allison shaded in the backround to make it look like a sunset. The gray and white shading blended perfectly. This was the way all of her pictures took form. She would start with a simple object and create stories out of them. In the more difficult parts of the drawing she bent over the paper for a better look. She was so immersed in her drawing that she was hardly aware of Alan Micheal trying to get her attention. With a final, and rather loud, 'psst' in her direction she turned to face him.

"May I help you?" she answered. The only time Alan ever spoke to her was to compliment her on her choice of wardrobe. Most of the time, asking what thrift shop she went to.

"Hey," he whispered. "This look is alot better than that bag lady look you had going before. What happened, did they take away your shopping cart?" Several of the other students laughed.

"Real original Alan," she said. Leaning in a little closer so she wouldn't have to raise her voice, she added, "But I don't think a boy who is still dressed by his mother has any right to criticize." Allison's remark earned a bigger laugh, and Alan, defeated, added no retaliation.

Allison recieved another remark on her wardrobe in her next class as well. It was from a popular senior named Brenda Sletson. As she was walking by her she said simply, "Nice sweater." Allison looked around to make sure it had really been directed at her. When she was sure that it was, she muttered a quick thank you and took her seat. She had not heard a hint of sarcasm in Brenda's voice. The comment seemed genuine. Allison's world had gone totally wierd.

During her first break, as she violently tried to stuff her Algebra book in her locker the first of the Saturday gang had finally caught up with her. She turned to see a smiling Brian standing beside her. He was wearing his usual argile sweater over a light blue shirt. Allison briefly remembered Bender's comment about his outfit and she laughed. The laugh faded as she remembered what she had just said to Alan.

"Hey Ralph, how's it going?" she smiled. She slammed her locker shut before Brian saw the mess she kept.

"Some detention, huh?" he said. He was trying to start a conversation. Allison supposed he probably had something on his mind but she didn't want to know it. At least not at that moment.

"What, oh yeah I guess." she answered. She looked at him wondering what he wanted. They had never spoken before. He wasn't part of the popular crowd but Allison didn't have much in common with the 'brain's' either.

"Have you seen any one else yet? I haven't, well except you, of course." He was looking down the hall hopefully. She could see a thick textbook in his hand she supposed Brian spent most of his breaks studying. It was no surprise that he would be looking for them it seemed as though he didn't have much of a social life going on.

"No I haven't and why do you think I'd care?" she said quickly. "What happened on Saturday was nothing more than a fluke. We both know that." She didn't want to say it, but deep down inside she couldn't help feeling that it was probably true.

"I don't know I kinda hoped that something would be different," he said in a timid voice looking down at his sneakers. "It certainly felt as though things had changed. Didn't you feel that way?" he was looking at her hard, trying to read her thoughts.

"Come on, you didn't honestly believe that we would all come back to Shermer as best friends, did you? What makes you think I would?" she said. There was anger in her voice. What the hell did he know?

"Well, um, you kept your new look" he glanced once again down the hall sighing as he realized that no one was coming. He turned back to Allison and said, "I think you were hoping for something just as I was."

"Oh please, Ralph. Don't pretend you know something about me," she said. And in an instant she stormed down the hall fuming.

'How dare he say that to her?' she thought angrily. Of course she was more angry at him because he was right. She _had_ kept her new look in the hope that she and Andrew could continue what they had started. But she didn't want to face the fact that she actually wanted to become a part of his superficial world. Anyway, even if she did admit it, it would be nearly impossible for her to be accepted into his clique. She was to far out of his social circle. However, his words and actions at the library hadn't been superficial and Allison had actually felt more of a connection with him than with anyone else. Maybe that's what Brian had seen too and it wasn't so difficult for him to decipher the fact that she to would expect somethings to be different. Feeling guilty about the way she had spoken to him she made a silent vow to apologize to Brian the next time she saw him. She made her way out to her favorite spot on campus. The old unused bungalows were the perfect spot for her to sit alone and think without being disturbed. She had been enjoying the crisp Illinois air when she heard footsteps around the corner.

"Well, well, well..." called a familiar voice. It was Bender imitating Vernon. He was in his usual torn jeans and leather jacket. His red bandana was was tied up around his head, there was an odd sparkle radiating from his left ear lobe, and he had a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth.

"Oh it's you," she said.

"Why were you expecting someone else?" he mocked. He took a seat next to her holding a silver lighter in his hand.

"Ha, ha you're so funny," Allison said sarcastically. "Why aren't you off playing prince to your princess?" she asked. "Or are you actually being smart about the whole thing and accepting that thing's don't ever change?"

"You are so quick to conclude," his voice dropped a little, "I actually haven't seen Claire." He stared at his lighter and took a long hit of his cigarette. It was a few moments before he spoke again, "What about you and...what's his name?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she answered in an annoyed tone. She was getting quite tired of everyone calling her on the situation.

"You can play dumb all you want, Ally," Bender said, his voice was serious. She certainly hadn't heard it before. "But I saw you two. Nothing like that can stay quite."

"Is that what you're telling yourself? Oh well, I gotta go," she added. She stood up and left him sitting there by himself. A few seconds later the bell rang.

She had phys ed next, a class that Allison found completely useless. She doubted whether she would ever find use for sit-ups and pull-ups. And as she recalled there was no space on a resume for the number of minutes it took you to run a mile. The only thing that conforted her was the fact that the following year she would be a senior and she wouldn't have to take it again. Standing at her locker she glared at her uniform. She wasn't embarassed about changing. She had a relatively good body although she doubted anyone could tell under all of her baggy clothing. Sighing heavily she changed.

Outside Coach Maines was lecturing the class on the rules of basketball. Most of the other coaches were using the courts as well. It was a sea of blue and white as the girls shivered in their flimsy phys ed uniforms.

"Okay ladies," Maines yelled out to her class of slouching girls. "We'll form groups and then you will practice freethrows from the yellow line." She blew her whistle and Allison reluctantly followed her classmates. It was a dreary affair as girl after girl made half assed attempts at a basket. No one was following Maines' advise on proper form or technique. Allison even noticed several girls throwing the ball underhanded, something Maines had told them specifically not to to. When it was her turn Allison considered trying the technique. She even tried dribiling the ball several times.

"Hey Allison," cried a voice from behind her.

Allison quickly attempted her shot which was several feet to short and turned to see Claire Standish waving her over. Was she going to run into all of them today? Aware of the girls in her line staring at her she made her way over to the other court.

"Have you spoken to Andy today," Claire asked. She was standing with a group of juniors who were all eyeing Allison curiously. One of them was filing her fingernails absentmindedly. She clearly wasn't in the mood for basketball.

"No I haven't," she answered. Claire seemed to be hiding something.

"Oh, well, a bunch of us are going to the mall after school today. You want to come?" When she said this several of the girls looked at her in shock. Claire ignored them.

Allison thought she had misheard, had Claire just invited her to hang out? Trying to sound nonchalant she imediately answered yes and said goodbye. The group broke into conversation as she walked away and Allison thought she heard Claire say something that sounded like, "No she's cool" but she wasn't sure. Soon after she heard the thump of the ball against metal.

In Chemistry Allison found herself face to face with a stocky senior who asked, "Have we met before?" She didn't know if he was being serious or if it was just a lame attempt at a pick-up. Either way she gave him an icy cold stare and answerd, " doubt it." She walked away quickly, she had the feeling that he might attack her if she stuck around.

Allison was always quick to avoid large crowds, she especially hated Shermer high's cafeteria for it's obvious display of the social ladder. Like every other school there were seperate tables for seperate groups and unless you could weave your way through the maze it was a harsh affair. For this reason Allison packed her lunch daily and ate outside on the empty football bleachers. She looked down at her lunch and realized, to her horror, that she had not packed her caffeine. With a palm to her head Allison braced herself and walked into the cafeteria. Avoiding the tray line she made her way to the meal line and slid along with the rest of the students. When she reached the area where the drinks were she grabbed her coke but not before noticing something out of the corner of her eye. It looked like a varsity letterman jacket. She turned quickly to see who it was and was met with Andrew's amazing eye's. Flushing she turned towards the register. After paying for her drink Allison made haste towards the exit. All weekend she had thought about Andrew but now that she had seen him, she didn't want to see him. She didn't want to face the reality of the situation whether it was good or bad. She tried to hurry but the crowd of students seemed to have doubled. Dodging a group of cheerleaders she heard a voice.

"Hey Allison, will you please wait up?" Andrew hurried over to her. He was still holding on to his tray. Allison noticed an unusually large amount of school burgers piled there. He was still smiling and his faced was a little flushed.

"Oh, Andrew. How's it going?" she said, trying her best to sound surprised. She turned her back to him and started walking away again. Her heart was pounding in her ears. She couldn't face him, not just yet.

"Allison, hey," Andrew called. She felt his hand on her arm as he turned her around. When she faced him her heart melted. "I've been looking for you all day," he added, still holding on.

Allison tried to speak but nothing came out. And when she finally managed to make a sound it was simply to mutter short unidentifiable syllables. She wanted to tell him that she had missed him too. That she had thought about him all weekend but instead she just stood there completely aware of the situation. There she was standing in the middle of the cafeteria with Andrew Clark. The absurdity of the scene hit her like a ton of bricks. She needed to get away. She quickly said, "I still have your sweater" and walked away before he could respond. A part of her hoped that he wouldn't run after and an even bigger part hoped he would.

When she got to the football field she had looked down at her lunch with disgust. What had she just done? She liked Andrew she knew she did. But what was he to think after her behavior in the cafeteria? She didn't know why she had run out. She wanted to smile at him and talk with him privately not blab out nonsensical words or short sentences. She supposed she had been frightened over what he was going to say. She had been frightened that he was going to reject her. It was highly possible. They were from two totally different worlds and aside from a Saturday in detention they had spent no time together. She wanted to deny it with every inch of her being but she couldn't help but face the harsh reality that there probably wouldn't be anything special between them. Unable to eat Allison walked up to a garbage can and threw her lunch in it. Saving her soda for later.

The rest of her classes went by in a haze. She was so depressed that she couldn't even take notes. She did however feel a little bit better when she thought about the mall. She wondered if Claire had even been serious, she half expected to walk out to the front of the school and find out she had already gone. But that wasn't so, when she walked out she heard her familiar voice as she called her over. She was standing with two girls, one whom Allison recognized from phys ed, and one she had never met before.

"Allison this is Jennifer Hayworth," Claire pointed to the tall girl Allison hadn't recognized. "And Leslie Cartlin, girls this is Allison Reynolds." When they had smiled at her it had seemed sincere enough so she saw no problem climbing into Jennifer's red pontiac.

"Next stop,the mall," Jennifer screamed as she reved up the engine and pulled out of the school parking lot.

**A/N: dont forget to review on your way out thanx**


	3. Over Blue Jeans and Makeup

Chapter 3: Over Blue Jeans and Make-Up

"It's just like I was telling him, 'there is no use in having sex with you if we aren't going to be together.'" Jenny was holding a blue off the shoulder blouse they were at, what Allison assumed, was a trendy clothing shop she had never been to. "I'm not that kind of girl."

"Oh, yes you are!" Leslie replied.

"I know," she turned to Allison, "hey Al, this shirt will totally look cute on you, try it on." She handed it to her and walked away before Allison had a chance to reply.

That's how it had been all afternoon. They would walk into a store, led by Leslie's persistent squeals, 'oh I love that shirt!', and slowly make their way through the racks of closthing. Jenny entertained the group with her wild stories and juicy gossip, Claire and Leslie added their general concents for rebuttals, and Allison would just stand there and watch it all happen. The dynamics of the group were something that she had never experienced before. Sure the conversations were still superficial and mundane but Allison felt as though she could stand it. She was in complete state of shock She couldn't believe it she was actually shopping with Claire and her group, she supposed she was a little nervous and at first she didn't say much. But then as they were looking through a pile of Guess jeans...

"...So then Old Man Vernon gave me the biggest lecture on being tardy, he was like 'I expect you to behave like a responsible adult', and I was like shut up!" Jenny was rambling on about Vernon and suddenly Allison felt like saying something.

"That geezer is such a drag, he probably just needs to get laid."

And then they all laughed, Allison had voiced her opinion and people had listened. The conversations may not have been to her liking but at least now she was feeling as the she mattered, as though she actually existed. It was quited a social whirlwind. Driven by her sudden spotlight she added Saturday's incident with the toilet protector, leaving out the details from fear of upsetting Claire. Once again the group roared with laughter. After that talking to them just became easier and easier.

"Yeah, Claire told us about the detention you had on Saturday," Leslie said. "Must have been a total bummer."

Allison looked over at Claire who merely shrugged. She wondered how much of Saturday's events she had let her friends in on, but when they mentioned nothing else she figured she hadn't gone into much detail.

"These jeans are totally going to match that shirt I got, I'm going to go try them on," Leslie ran to the dressing room and the other's followed. Apperantly there was strength in numbers in the dressing room, becuase if when one went everyone else did too. Inside they all tried on a pair, they all complimented each other, and they all said that the other looked better.

"I don't know about these, don't they make my butt look flat?" Jenny asked them.

"No your ass was already like that," Leslie said, and Allison had laughed. Sure it was a mean comment, but Jenny hadn't been offended.

This Allison understood was what all girls did, they pointed out each other's flaws and called each other names. But instead of becoming upset the simply laughed it off. She had been so cut off from the social world that she had missed out on simple female behaviour. Sure it was cruel but it seemed to be in good fun.

Later at the make-up counter of a department store Allison and Claire finally got a chance to talk privately, Leslie and Jenny had gone to try out some perfume.

"You didn't talk to Andy?" Claire asked as she took the cap off a lipstick and dabbed some on her finger.

"No, I kind of froze up when I saw him in the caf, why did he say something?" She wondered if maybe Claire had spoken to him earlier that day and wondered if he had told her something.

"I ran into him before school and he seemed so happy about seeing you. He even asked me what I thought about the whole situation," she put the lipstick back deciding to look at the eye shadows instead.

"What do you think?" Allison asked ignoring the make-up for a while.

"I don't know," she said running her finger over a golden shadow. "I think that you two should definately give it a shot. I can tell he really likes you."

Allison wanted to ask her how Claire had drawn her conclusion but decided she already knew that answer. The way he had looked at her those last few moments at the library and when they had said goodbye said it all. It was the same look she had carried too. When thought back to the incident in the cafeteria his expression had not changed.

Claire handed her the golden shadow, "Here buy this, it will look really good on you."

Allison walked into her bedroom with several bags of clothes and make-up in her hands. She was finally making up for her years of bad wardrobe choices and purchased her fair share of trendy pieces. It wasn't as if she had made her purchases becuase Claire and the other's told her she looked good. It was because when she tried them on and looked at herself in the mirror she couldn't help but agree. The jeans hugged her curves perfectly, and the blouses showed off her girlish figure. Even the make-up made her dark eyes stand out. While she was putting her new things away she thought about what Claire had told her.

Andrew had been looking for her all day, not just merely hoping to run into him as she had been. He had been looking for her and he had been thinking the same exact thing that she had, whether or not they were going to continue what they had started. In a panic Allison hoped that her dumb reaction had not ruined any chances she might of had. She wished deeply that she could take back what had happened earlier.

Glancing at her clock she headed down stairs for dinner.

"I went to the mall," she answered her mom when she had asked why she was late back from school. Her father was once again absent from the table.

"Oh, well I hope you didn't just go there to buy some more of that dark make-up that you like so much. It makes you look horrible."

Glancing at her half finished plate, Allison left the table. Her mother always had a way of making her lose her appetite.

Upstairs Allison contemplated calling Andrew, she had even gone as far as looking up his number in the school directory and picking up the phone in the hallway. But she qucikly put it down deciding that she might hang up if she heard his voice. When the phone rang a few seconds later her heart raced. Slowly she picked up the reciever and said hello.

_"Allison? Hey it's Claire. I hope you don't mind I got your number from the school's directory."_

_"Hey Claire. No, I don't mind."_

_"Did you have a good time today?"_

_"Um, yeah actually, I did. Your friends are pretty cool."_

_"Yeah, it's so easy for people to criticize when they don't really know someone."_

_"I know what you mean. How exactly did they agree to your bringing me along. I mean It's not like you and I ever talked before."_

_"Well it really wasn't that hard for me to convince them after I talked to you in P.E. Leslie had asked about you and I said you were cool. And Jenny was okay with it once Leslie and I were."_

_"Listen I really think you should try talking to Andy tommorrow. He looked like he really wanted to talk to you this morning."_

_"I don't know Claire, what if I freak out again? It's just so strange."_

_"Trust me, you two definately need to talk. Listen I gotta go, I'll see you in school tommorrow okay? Bye."_

_"Bye"_

She hung up the phone. She stood there in the dark hallway for a minute trying to wrap her mind around everything that was going on. Had she just had a friendly conversation on the phone with another girl? Had she just spent the afternoon with some of the most popular girls at school? She kept drawing the same conclusions, yes she had, but she still couldn't believe it was real.

"Who was it?" her mother asked her from the bottom of the stairs.

"No one, it was for me." her voice showing every bit of shock as her mother's face was.


	4. Giving In

Chapter 4: Giving In

"Good morning, people! It's a gloomy day outside, with chance of light showers later in the afternoon so don't forget your umbrellas. Highs in the upper fifties, low sixties. Coming up on our morning countdown..."

Allison reached out a heavy hand and smacked her alarm clock. She didn't know which was worse, being woken up by an annoying beep or an equally annoying deejay. She got up and went to take a shower. This morning's dress ritual was a little more thought out. After she talked to Claire last night she decided that she wouldn't be able to avoid Andrew forever, this in mind she decided she was going to dress for the occasion. She laid out the blue off the shoulder blouse Jenny had suggested, a knee length denim skirt, and a large white belt she was going to wear on her waist over her shirt. If she was going to be face to face with him, she wanted to look the part. She wanted to remind him of that girl he had seen stepping out of the backroom at the library. She paid particular attention to her hair, feathering it and holding it back with a thick headband, leaving a fair amount of bangs that framed her face. Her make up was light, with gold shades accenting her dark eyes.

Once again standing in front of the mirror, she couldn't help but admire the way she looked. It wasn't, however, only a matter of her appearance, she felt better to. There was a certain amount of confidence that came with a good outfit. As if the way you felt about your outward appearance was directly proportional to the way you felt on the inside. She walked down to the kitchen and opened her morning can of coke, and grabbed her lunch, this time deliberately leaving behind her drink. She headed out the door to catch the school bus.

"Be still my heart," Allison was in her usual seat on the back of the bus. This time the geeky freshman had taken the seat directly across from her. Allison tried to look busy but he wasn't taking the hint. "Come now, why don't you and I rock around a bit. If you know what I mean?"

"Listen geek," she spat back. "I doubt you have any idea what you're talking about, so why don't you just leave me alone, and take your greasy tude with you."

"Oh, you don't have to be shy around me sweetheart," he answered sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes at him. She wasn't sure how much more of it she could take. "Read my lips: I'm not interested." she took her out her current English novel and began reading. The freshman seemed to have run out of ammo; he left her alone for the rest of the ride.

During her morning break Allison returned to her usual spot in the back bungalows, she hadn't run into Brian and she was contemplating going to look for him to apologize for what she had said to him, but Andrew found her first. He was wearing his varsity jacket, the patch she noticed had not been replaced, and dark blue jeans. She showed no emotion as he walked toward her, her mind was deep in thought. The conversation they were about to have could go in one of both ways, either he was going to tell her it was not going to work out, or her would tell her that they should date. Either way Allison was terrified.

"Hi," he said looking her in the eyes.

She was nervous; she didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry about yesterday" she finally mumbled.

He shuffled his sneakers and looked at the ground. "I don't really blame you, the situation is so strange."

"So I guess that's it then?" there was a bit of anger in her voice. If the situation was strange, than Andrew would have no desire to continue it. She didn't want to give him the pleasure of breaking it off first.

"What do you mean?" there was genuine concern in his voice.

"You just said 'the situation is strange', than maybe we should just leave it at. As something that happened because we were stuck together in a room for nine hours." She was talking fast; she wanted to run away again, she had gotten so good at that.

"That's not what I meant, Allison I just," he started, but she interrupted him.

"Please spare me your 'It just wouldn't work out between us', shit."

"Will you just shut up and let me talk," he yelled. Allison was caught off guard; she just stood there and blinked at him.

"I just wanted to say, that ever since detention I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. And then yesterday I was so excited to see you, but then you..." he stopped and just looked at her.

"I spazzed," she knew exactly what he was trying to say. "I just didn't know what to expect," she bit on her thumb instinctively and stared at him. Andy stood there just as uncomfortable as she was. It was apparent that neither of them knew what to do next.

"What class have you got next?" he finally asked breaking the silence.

"Phys e.d, you?" Allison asked grateful for the opportunity to stop biting her finger.

"Study Hall, I'll walk you to the girls gym." he took her hand in his, she squeezed it approvingly.

They stood in front of the gym for a while. Allison was determined to remain outside until the last bell rang, and Andrew kept glancing sideways at her.

"So." she turned towards him.

"So?" he smiled.

"Well I think we are way beyond awkward silences Andrew," she reached up and gave him a swift kiss on the lips. She began walking away, when Andrew who was still holding her hand, pulled her in. Reaching out for her neck he kissed her, hard.

"Yes we are," he said as he let her go. "I'll see you at lunch." And he left, leaving Allison in a stunned silence.

In chemistry Allison was still thinking about the kiss, and although she was sure that Andrew had decided to continue what they had started, it brought a new wave of concern. What exactly was going to happen next? She figured that the most logical step would be to date but could it actually work? Allison was sure that the glass ceiling of the social ladder wasn't going to be too lenient to her situation. She was, figuratively speaking, trying to make her way from the bottom of the ladder to the top in one quick motion. She didn't expect that the popular crowd would embrace her with open arms, but than again there was Claire. If yesterday's events were any indication of her assimilation, she didn't think it would be too bad. She had enjoyed her time with the group and she felt as though she fit in. She supposed stressing over the situation wasn't going to do her any good. She was going to take it one step at a time, and her next step was lunch.

"Okay class, remember that tomorrow we will be choosing lab partners for the next experiment, I expect all of you to be here." Professor Weiner spoke as the bell rang. No one listened as there was a mad dash for the door.

Allison didn't feel like dashing. She gathered her stuff slowly, and made her way quite reluctantly to her locker. She even contemplated going to the restroom, and maybe staying there, when she heard Andrew's voice.

"Ready?' he asked smiling at her.

"Um, maybe we should just eat outside I have my own lunch. You can just go grab yours and I'll wait for you here." she was trying hard to come up with an excuse to avoid eating in the cafeteria, but knew it would be useless. And then...

"Okay." he said.

"Okay?" she asked not really believing him.

"Yeah, I'll go grab my lunch, you'll grab your coke, and we'll eat wherever you want."

She couldn't believe it. Andrew had agreed to have lunch with her, instead of with all his friends. Instead of making her feel elated, Allison felt selfish. She had just started talking to Andrew and already she was asking him to give up his social world. Her guilt was to intense she didn't think she'd survive, so as they made their way through the crowd in the hall she said that maybe they should just eat inside.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, positive. Besides I heard it might rain."

"Okay," he said. And he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Taking her hand in his, he led the way to the cafeteria.

**A/N: Hey if you've made it this far how about dropping a review? Plzkthnx! Ciao**


	5. What The Fk?

Chapter 5: What the F--k?

"Hun? Hey, do you want the coke or not?" The lunch lady was talking to her but Allison barely heard a word, it wasn't until Andrew nudged her gently that she put fifty cents on the counter and walked away. The lunch lady looking at her doubtfully as she did.

For a few seconds she stood alone looking out at the jungle, which was the cafeteria, her heart was pounding, her hands were sweating, and she was nearly crushing her bagged lunch. 'What am I doing here?' she asked herself. And then Andrew was besides her, smiling his wonderful smile and she remembered.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "There's nothing to worry about."

She raised an eyebrow at him. 'That's easy for you to say' she thought. He wasn't the one who was attempting to sneak his way into Shermer High's social elite. His place was already reserved, being a star athlete and all. But poor Allison had nothing going for her, she felt as though she might throw up. She followed Andrew as he skillfully maneuvered his way through the maze. On more than one occasion, someone would call his name, he gestured his hello's and Allison watched as heads cocked and brows furrowed when their eyes landed on her. Allison's translation of those reactions: "What the fuck?"

It was the same over at Andrew's table. At first there were the familiar words of welcome, 'Hey Andrew', 'what's up?', and 'hi', but as they both approached the group, and they caught sight of Allison, a wave of whispers began. Choosing to ignore them, Andrew simply said, "Hey guys, this is Allison," and sat down.

Once seated, Allison let out a small sigh of relief; at least she was out of the spotlight. But then as she looked around the table she realized that it wouldn't be that easy. There were about seven or eight, wrestling jocks and a few, she assumed, of their girlfriends. And they were all staring at her. Like a dear caught in headlights, Allison just looked back at them, round-eyed and silent. But than a few seconds later, Andrew was talking to one of his friends. It was a relatively neutral topic centering on their next wrestling match, but it had the reaction he hoped for. Slowly, the jocks shifted their attention from Allison to the conversation at hand, and soon the table was talking lively again. All, that is, except for the few girls who still stared at Allison and made remarks to one another behind covered mouths. Allison knew that her small talk would not yet be tolerated; she was much too new to the group and did not have any sort of popularity to fall back on. What she needed was something that would give her pull with these people, something that would make her seem even remotely interesting. She looked over at Andrew who had asked her a question, she responded honestly, and with an air of comfort she felt the girls would be surprised with. It was getting to be obvious that she and Andrew where more than just friends, but Allison knew this would not be enough. And then something totally perfect and amazing happened and it was in the form of one Claire Standish.

After she had been sitting there with her lunch out and no obvious attempts to eat it, Allison saw Claire walking over to the table. Thinking she had come over to talk to one of the wrestler girlfriends, Allison pretended to be extremely interested in her bag of chips. Claire however spoke to her.

"Hi Allison," she smiled. The rest of the girls only looked from Claire to Allison in a dumbfounded sort of way.

Noticing their reaction, Allison sat up straighter and smiled, "Oh, hey Claire how's it going?"

"Alright I guess. I just came to tell you that Jenny Hayworth asked me when we were all going to hang out again," Claire came over and sat on the edge of the table where Allison and Andrew were. "Hey Andy," She nodded.

Allison felt relieved she had finally found her leverage, "Tell her, anytime, anytime she wants." She felt an air of satisfaction as the girls just sat there in stunned silence watching her chatting rather friendly like with Claire.

"Yeah, so anyway, Jenny also wanted me to tell you that you'll have to have lunch with us sometime. Hey Andrew?" she had to yell because at that moment he was in a deep discussion with the guy sitting next to him. When he looked up Claire continued, "You think you might be able to spare Allison a little later this week?" He smiled and nodded. "So, well, I gotta go. I'll call you later okay?"

And with that she stood up and left. Allison and the other girls watched as Claire joined her group, and as the icing to an already delicious cake, Jenny and Leslie both waved to her. She waved back, after that lunch did not seem like such a big deal.

"Hang on a second Andrew." It was after lunch and Allison had just spotted Claire's red hair in the middle of a crowd making its way to class. She rushed over to her and called her name. "Hey Claire, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure Al, what's up?"

"I just wanted to say thank you for what you did back there in the cafeteria, I felt as if those girls were going to burn me at the stake."

"Yeah I noticed that, but I have to tell you something." Claire said. "That really wasn't a rescue mission, you know? Jenny really did ask me when we were going out next, and she does want you to eat with us. I wasn't trying to make you look good in there, I was telling the truth. Listen we'll be late, I'll call you later."

Allison watched Claire make her way through the crowd once again. She soon felt Andrew's hand pulling her in the direction of her next class. Later while she was in study hall she thought about what she had heard. When Claire had left the table, Allison had been one hundred percent sure that she had only said those things in order to get her out of a tight spot. Here is how Allison had played out the scene in her mind: Claire had spotted Allison sitting at Andrew's table and had noticed how uncomfortable she looked. She might have even spotted the other girls whispering behind their hands, in an attempt to help her out, Claire had gone over to the table and lied in front of the whole group in order to make her seem, more appealing. In Allison's mind the plan had worked flawlessly, and she would only have to wait to see if the other's bought into it, and whether Jenny and Leslie would be alright with it.

But to her complete surprise the situation had not been rehearsed, and everything Claire said had been the truth. It had worked out rather well and Allison could not help but smile as she replayed the scene in her head. She remembered the way the girls had looked at her after that, it translated as 'what the fuck?', and she let out a laugh. At the sound of her laughter the boy in front of her turned and winked at her. Rolling her eyes, she said, "That wasn't for you."

Andrew had told her that he would meet her at her locker after school. When her Spanish class ended Allison made a mad dash to her locker and watched for him. When he reached her, he pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her. Closing her locker door she grabbed his hand and they made their way to the parking lot.

"Where are you going?" Andrew asked. Allison had been walking towards her school bus. The bus was already half full and she could even see the pimply face of her freshman stalker peering out the window.

"To the bus," she said slowly, "How else am I supposed to get home?"

"Well I kind of thought I would drive you," he said as he handed her her bag. "But if you prefer the bus, then go right ahead."

Playing into his sarcasm she quickly said,"Hmm...Let me see? Ride on the rancid smelling creepy stalker filled school bus or ride home in your, what is it you drive, oh yes, your Chevy? Oh that's a toughie. I think I'll take the bus."

He laughed and pulled her towards the student lot, "Come on it's this way." Allison followed but not before turning back and catching the look on the freshman's face. By now she recognized his expression fairly well. 'What the fuck?' it said and Allison laughed as she walked off hand in hand with Andrew.

"I think we should leave your introduction to my parents, until a later time." They were parked across the street of Allison's house. "It's not like they wouldn't go to psychotic. They probably wouldn't even care."

"We can do it any other time." Andrew reassured her; he had his arm around her neck and was running his fingers through her hair. "We'll have plenty of time for stuff like that."

She leaned in and gave a long, deep kiss, bringing her hands to his face. "Okay" she said shyly as she started gathering up her stuff and opening the car door.

Andrew sat there for a moment, as if trying to compose himself after the kiss. Then as she started saying goodbye he called out to her, "Don't make plans for Friday I'm taking you out. So I'll call you later?" he asked.

"Sure," she responded and made her way to her house.

As always the house was quite, she assumed her mother was off on one of her early dinner dates with a friend and her father was probably still at work. She used to feel so lonely walking into her house before, but today even her obvious lack of parental companionship wasn't affecting her. She had Andrew to occupy her mind. Warming up a plate of leftovers she headed up to her room to study.

Later that night...

_"Hello"_

_"Hi, Al its Claire."_

_"Hey, what's up?"_

_"Just calling to let you know that there's this major party at Grace's house this Saturday. So you and Andy definitely have to come."_

_"Sounds fun"_

_"It should be a blast. Grace's house is huge so it's always this big turnout. I don't know why she does it, every time she does her house totally gets thrashed and then she complains and swears that she won't ever do it again. But now here we are. So you and Andy, I'm glad that's going to work out. At least something's coming out of that dreadful detention..."_

_"I've been meaning to ask you Claire, you and Bender?"_

_"That situation is a little more complicated."_

_"Have you even talked to him?"_

_"Yes, but...Listen can we talk about this some other time? I have to go my mother is starting in on my dad again and all I wanna do is turn on my stereo and drown them out. I'll see you in school tomorrow."_

_"Okay, bye."_

Later still...

_"Hi"_

_"Hi Andrew, you know I think I'm going to have to move this phone to my room. I have to come into the hallway and there is no privacy."_

_"Maybe your parents will get you your own line."_

_"Yeah, fat chance."_

_"So lunch was pretty nasty huh?"_

_"It was in the beginning but that whole Claire incident really helped me out."_

_"Yeah those girls look up to that group. I'm sorry about them they are total bitches."_

_"Whatever, it makes no difference. I just can't let them get to me, that's all."_

_"You're right. So I'll pick you up in the morning then?"_

_"You know Andrew keep this up and you'll just end up spoiling me."_

_"Is that such a bad thing?"_

_"Trust me; you wouldn't want to know me that way. Oh and Claire mentioned something about some party on Saturday..."_

_"Grace Crawliff? Yeah I heard something about that. She's pretty wild, do you want to go?"_

_"I guess so. So I'll see you tomorrow then?"_

_"Yeah goodnight"_

_"Night"_

**A/N: Come now please review. Tell me how this story sucks hard I don't care just do it. Come on**


	6. Life's Little Party

Life's Little Party

There was nothing better, for Allison, then walking out of her house the next morning and seeing Andrew in his truck waiting for her. This was exactly how her life could have been, if she had decided to shed her social outcast image a long time ago. She could have been driven to school everyday by a great guy like Andrew, and looking forward to many plans for the weekend. And even if it looked as though she was giving up a part of herself, it was worth it, she thought happily as the truck drove by her bus stop.

The school was as crowded as ever but this time Allison walked to her locker with her head held high. It had nothing to do with her, and everything to do with the fact that she had Andrew for support. It was so much easier, to brave the troubles at school with him standing by her side. And even as she noticed Brian's blonde head walking swiftly passed her, she called to him with confidence.

"Hey Ralph."

Brian stopped suddenly, and turned a little slowly towards her voice. When he caught sight of Allison he smiled and when he noticed Andrew he smiled even wider. "Hi Allison, Andy."

"How's it going Bri," Andrew said hitting him softly on the shoulder.

"Listen Ralph, I want to say sorry for the fucked up way I acted with you on Monday. It was totally uncalled for and I feel like a total bitch for it," Allison spoke sincerely hoping that she had not hurt him to bad.

"Oh it's alright, I see things are better now." He was talking about her and Andrew.

"I guess you can say that," she said and smiled. "Hey so we'll see you later. The second bell is about to ring and Mitchell will totally have my neck if I'm late again."

"Mitchell? I have him for calculus, he isn't that bad," Brian told her.

"Well you try being late for his class twice a week and see how bad he can be," she explained. "Bye Ralph. And I'll see you later okay." She kissed Andrew on the cheek and made her way quickly ot Algebra.

She barely made it to her seat on time when the bell rang. Alan stared at her as she entered, and Allison was sure he was going to say something to her but instead he just smiled.

"What's your problem," she asked rather annoyed. She tried her best to ignore his glances for the rest of the class and had been rather successful. But as she was putting her things away he walked towards her desk.

"Are you going to the party on Saturday?" He was looking down her blouse as he spoke.

Appalled by his obvious come on, Allison quickly answered, "I have no idea what you are talking about Alan and if you are in any way trying to ask me out the answer is 'no way.'" She stood up and made her way to the door, "And by the way, next time you look down my blouse I'll kick your ass."

Later during her break she told Andrew about what had happened.

"Alan is such a slime ball. First I had to put up with his taunts, and now I am going to have to put up with his one liners. It makes me sick." They were sitting outside by the bungalows. When Allison had told him that she felt as though lunch time was more than she could stand with his group, Andrew had insisted that they spend their break out there, where she usually sat. It was a nice day out so Allison had agreed to it.

"Just tell Alan that you and I are an item and I'm sure he'll back off. And if he doesn't than i'll be the one kicking his ass."

Allison laughed. "It's just so wierd. I mean, one minute I'm like this nobody, and now all of a sudden sleaze bags like Alan Mitchell are looking down my shirt. It's like the freaking Twilight Zone." She was resting her head on Andrew's shoulder as they sat side to side on an empty bench.

"Well that's the way it's going to be. I mean you're a good looking girl Allison, it's only natural that guys try and flirt with you."

Allison closed her eyes for a second. The fact that Andrew was calling her beautiful made her feel slightly embarassed. She had gone her entire life feeling slightly below avarage and any type of attention from the opposite sex was always negative. Now, not only did she have Andrew's attention but other's as well. Allison had no idea how she was supposed to deal with that.

Later during Chemistry Professor Weiner explained that they would be given lab partners for the next experiment. Allison gave out a noise of protest along with the rest of the class, no one wanted to be paired off with a total loser. She waited rather inpatiently while Weiner called out names from the roster randomly, claiming that it would be the fairest way of pairing them off. He finally reached her name, and Allison waited before he said, "Katarina Linal." She glanced around and found a chubby blonde headed girl moving over to one of the empty lab tables. Gathering her book Allison followed. Once the entire class had been paired off Weiner gave them instructions on the absurdly difficult expirenment.

"This is the shit's isn't it?" Katarina asked, her voice was surprisingly high.

"Yeah I guess," Allison asked measuring a clear liquid into a beaker. "I guess somebody out there actually needs to know this stuff."

"You know you seem different now." It was a pretty straight foward question, but regardless it caught Allison off gaurd.

"I don't know what you mean," Allison responded.

"Well you were a little more introverted before and now, I don't know, you're dressing differently. It's just different."

Katarina was looking at her with large brown eyes. Allison looked at her. She certainly was on a low strata in the social scheme of things. She wore plain clothing, her hair was nothing special, and she certainly had a little meat on her. But here she was judging Allison by the same standards that everyone else was. There was no escaping it. Allison did not even know this girl, it took everything inside her not to tell her to 'fuck off' but instead she smiled and said, "Really? I don't see it." She was quite for the rest of the class. And even as the day went on she couldn't help but wonder if in some warped way, Katarina was trying to call her a sell out. If there was one thing that Allison knew she wasn't was a sellout. As far as she knew, she was still the same person she had always been, even if her outward appearance was a little different.

"Damn it!" Allison had just put the finishing touches on her makeup when she heard her doorbell ring. It was Saturday night and Andrew was half an hour early. Grace's party wasn't supposed to start until later on that night, but they had made plans to meet earlier and grab something to eat. Allison certianly didn't want to live on chips and soda for the night. "I'm comming!" she yelled towards the front door. She quickly finished putting on her makeup and ran a brush through her hair. Deciding to leave her hair down Allison had feathered it lightly and it framed her face in perfect waves. She looked down at her dress it was a perfect. Light blue, three quarter length, with an empire waist. She grabbed a light sweater just in case but really thought she wouldn't need it since she would be indoors the whole night. Grabbing her purse she ran down the stairs.

"Allison? Aren't you going to have him come in? " It was her mother she was standing by the front window peaking out through the curtains.

"Why? " she asked.

"It's apropriate," she responded glancing down at Allison's outfit.

"Yeah, right. Maybe some other time. I'll be back later," and before she could respond Allison was out the door.

"You look nice tonight. Is that your mom?" Andrew asked as he opened up the passanger door for her.

"Yeah the total spaz." Blushing slightly she turned to see her mother still peaking through the curtains." I don't know what she's playing at. She never cared about me before and now all of a sudden she's interested. Whatever."

"I thought you said your parents ignored you," he said. It wasn't an accusation it was more of an observation. Allison found it flattering that he had actually listened to her in the library even if she had been a total bitch.

"My dad does," she explained. "My mom just makes it her daily habit to point out all of my faults, which is just as bad."

"My old man is the same way," Andrew continued. "Just last night he was on me for something the coach had told him. Sometime's I want to quit the whole thing." He looked over at her and smiled weakly. "The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that if I get a scholarship I'll be able to go as far away from him as possible."

"Why do they have to be such asses. You know I can't even imagine what a healthy family would even feel like. Its kind of sad actually." Allison looked out the window where the dark sky reflected her growing depression.

Sensing a change Andrew quickly added, "Listen let's not let them ruin or night, we can't give them that pleasure. I thought we'd go down to Mel's diner for a light dinner," he said trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't think fat hamburgers and greasy french fries can be considered a light dinner but what the hell." Allison had heard about Mel's a couple of times before. It was opened 24 hours so it was the perfect before or after party watering hole. Tonight it was packed with high school students all standing around rather loudly waiting for their orders. Allison drew in a breath as she thought about facing the crowd. At the party she would have the cover of loud music and bad lighting to hide her. Here she was completely exposed.

As if reading her thoughts Andrew said, "I love the fact that this place offers a drive up menu. It saves us from having to go inside" A few moments later a girl in a pink uniform and rollerskates approached the window and took their orders. They ordered and sat there for a moment looking at the multitude of cars that drove by or parked. One of these, a blue mustang convertible, stopped and honked loudly.

"Hey Andrew," Allison looked up and saw a blonde headed boy sitting in the driver's seat, he was holding a beer bottle in his hand. "You guys going over to Grace's tonight?."

"Yeah Steven we are," Andrew yelled back his head and half of his body sticking out of the driver's side window.

"See ya there!" Steven yelled as he floored his engine and took off.

"That's Steven the team's junior captain. He's a pretty cool guy, kind of a dumbass though," Andrew told Allison as he grabbed their empty trays and made his way to the garbage can.

"Is that so?" she said, smiling. It was pretty sweet the way he was trying to fill her in on everything in his life. It was something that wouldn't be expected from a so called jock. Andrew certainly was turning out to be quite the opposite, he was sensitive and caring. Something, Allison assumed, many people did not get the chance to find out about him.

A while later they were standing in front of a two story house that had a fair amount of cars parked in the front yard. There were several people getting out of their cars and rushing inside. From out here Allison could hear the music blaring, laughter, and nonsensical screaming. Here she was standing on the threshold of her first ever highschool party. She had no idea what to expect.

"Chug! Chug! Chug!" A big group of senior's were egging on two younger boys in the hallway. They were in an apparent race to see who could drink beer from a vase the fastest. Everyone had a red plastic cup in thier hands and 'Madonna' could be heard out of a stereo in the corner of the living room. There were a small group of people dancing in the open space of the living room. Allison watched as the dancing wasn't quite in synch with the rythm of the song, she supposed that was the effect of the alcohol and laughed.

"Let's go get a drink," said Andrew as he led her into the kitchen.

"Hey Andrew, my man!" a burly senior gave Andrew a one arm hug. "Who's the babe?" he asked with slurred speach. Before waiting for a response he belched loudly and walked away. Andrew looked over at Allison, she shrugged.

The kitchen had been set up for two purposes. The first was as a food source. The dining room table was laid out with various chips and dips. Allison also noticed an uneaten tray of raw vegetables. The kitchens other purpose was to provide beverages, both alcoholic and non. Andrew stood over the island in the middle of the room and looked down at the wide arrange of liquours, juices, and soft drinks. His gaze seemed rather perplexed.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked rather amused.

"Well I just normally have a beer," he said picking up a bottle of Green Apple Schnapp's. "I don't know what to do with this stuff. I don't even know what it is."

Allison smiled. "Oh poor baby. Here let me handle this." She picked up a bottle of vodka and club soda. Andrew watched as she expertly handled the two bases for the drink and then added a splash of pinaple juice, cranberry juice for color, and Malibu rum. A few minutes later she was enjoying a rather tasty mixed drink. Walking to the fridge she pulled out a beer and handed it to Andrew. "Here, stick with what you know," she said and he took it gratefully.

As he watched Allison sip her fruity liquid she handed him the cup so he could quell his curiosity. After his first sip Andrew raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" she asked. "I wasn't kidding in detention when I told you about the vodka. My parents have a full bar in the basement and I was lonely. If you ask me it's a miracle I'm not an alcoholic."

"Keep making drinks like this," Andrew pointed out, "and we'll both become drunks. Come on let's party."

They made their way back to the living room area. In the few minutes that they had arrived the number of guests had nearly doubled. It was quite difficult making thier way through trying to settle on a spot. Finally, they found a relatively clear spot in front of the fireplace. They both set their half finished cups on the mantel and looked around. The crowd grew roudy as the minutes passed, Allison looked around at all semi-unfimiliar faces for a sign of Claire. She had just made up her mind to go look for her when a tall blonde girl walked up to them. She was smiling at Andrew as she approached them and when she reached him she gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Andy, hey! How's it going? Who's this?" she asked while looking Allison up and down.

"Hey Susan, this is Allison, Allison Reynolds." Allison stood there her head clouding over with suspicion. She hadn't liked the way Susan had greeted Andrew. Worse yet she had looked Allison over as if attempting to place her somewhere.

"Do you go to our school?" she asked. "I've never seen you before."

"Oh yeah," she answered. "That's because I spend most of my time in the girl's bathroom. You know, wallowing in my misery about not being part of the popular crowd. It's not that bad though, you should try it sometime. That is, if you can stand the smell." Allison took a final sip of her drink and looked over at Andrew, "I'm going to go look for Claire. It was nice meeting you Suzy." She gave that blond bitch a final sarcastic smile and walked away. She felt completely satisfied, Andrew had looked as though he was going to spit out his beer from laughing and Susan looked agashed. She heard Andrew excuse himself as she made her way through the dancing crowd.

She had gone through the entire house, including the upstairs rooms which were serving entirely different purposes than those downstairs, and there was still no sign of Claire. In the backyard patio she ran into Jenny.

"Hey Al, how's it going?" she asked her speech already showing signs of drink. She was standing with a stocky senior, who had his arms draped heavily around her shoulders. "This is Benny Baby. Baby Benny this is Al."

"Hey Benny, hi Jennifer. Listen did Claire come?" she asked.

"Oh, yes! But like, she went to her car, or something. I don't know. Cheers!" Jenny said as she drained the entire contents of her plastic cup.

Deciding that she would look for Claire a little later she went back into the house to find Andrew. She found him in the kitchen with a group of his wrestling buddies. Their girlfriends were there as well, they even smiled at Allison when she walked in.

"Allison!" cried one. She remembered him from the lunch table, Jake Sloskey, a senior. "Andy here was just telling us that you make a killer mix drink. Care to share your gift with the girls apparently they aren't big fans of beer? Why I don't know," he added as he chugged a full bottle of beer in a matter of seconds.

"Alright," she said in an amused sort of way. Grabbing her now familiar bottle of Vodka she began making the drink. She sparkled in the attention and even managed a few tricks with the bottle. When she was done she handed them her signature drink.

"Not bad," proclaimed one of the girls. Her face showed a mild look of shook. "How come you can make such awesome drinks?"

Laughing Allison responded, "Oh it's because of all the free time I had when I wasn't invited to parties. There was nothing better to do in an empty house with a fully stocked bar." They all laughed. The girls however looked at her in surprise, clearly they didn't expect Allison to be able to talk so lightly about her previous social situation. They probably expected her to be ashamed and try to hide it. If there was something Allison knew, was that the ability to poke fun of yourself was highly useful. It prevented other's from doing it first.

"Bottoms up," she said to them and watched as they drained the rest of their cups.

**A/N: Please, please, please take the time to review. Just remember, if you had a story I would review it. **


	7. What Was That?

**A/N: so this is the rest of the chapter and i hate it. Next chapter "Topsy Turvy" will be up soon!**

**A/N: Okay so I'm having a bit of a problem with my transition phase. I know where I want to go next in the story; I just don't know how to get there. Didn't want to leave the story without anything new (Going to be moving back home soon so it might be a while before I write again) so I thought I would add this half of a chapter. Anyways Ciao for now.**

What Was That?

It was well passed two in the morning when Allison decided it was time for them to leave. The night had been pleasant enough. She and Andrew had spent a fair amount of time talking outside on the patio; they had danced a little in the living room. And Allison had even managed to have a conversation with one of the wrestler girls. Her name was Daniella and she was very fond of her dog. At least, that had been all Allison had managed to understand. Her drinks had been a huge hit and the girls had finished an entire bottle on their own. Owing to the fact that Allison had developed a tolerance for alcohol she had been spared the drunken stupor the other's had fallen into. She and Andrew had also decided to stop drinking earlier so they would be sober enough to drive. As they were making their way out to the car, a loud crash was heard from inside the house. A frantic Grace rushed over to them; Allison noticed that she had a fresh beer stain down her shirt.

"Andrew, please you gotta come help me with Jake. He's trying to pick a fight with Drew and they're making a big mess," she looked back at her house desperately.

"Sure," Andrew said, as he handed Allison the key's to his truck. "I'll go, why don't you wait in the car?"

Taking the keys she made her way through the maze of cars in front of the house. There had been no parking when they first arrived so they ended up leaving the truck over in the next block. As Allison made her way down the street the music from the party started to die away and soon there was nothing but quiet. As she approached the truck, however, the sound of people talking could be heard. The voices were loud and frantic. Fearing that she was imposing on a heated argument Allison stopped and stepped behind some tall bushes of a nearby driveway hoping that the pair would soon leave. But they didn't and now that she had stopped walking Allison could make out their voices more clearly.

"No it's nothing like that!" said a female voice. Allison had only heard the first word when she realized it was Claire. Her heart began racing. She was about to step out from behind the bushes when she heard Claire continue, "It's just, well, it's just different." Her voice was sad and throaty as if she had been crying.

"That's bullshit Claire! And you know it," John exclaimed. "Why don't you just admit, huh? You're scared, you're scared that your social castle will come crumbling down if you told them!"

"That's not fair John," she said, her voice was shaking more violently. "Please you have to understand. I don't want to hurt you, I swear."

"I don't have to understand anything!" he yelled. "Here I don't want this."

Allison was pressing into the bushes hard. She prayed that Andrew would soon walk over and scare the feuding couple away but there was no sign of him. She craned her neck to see if he was making his way towards the truck when she felt something crawling on her arm. Instinctively she shook her arm and stepped away from the bush.

"What was that?" Claire asked. Allison could hear the click of her heals as she walked towards the bush. Allison ran over to the car in the driveway and hid behind it. She knew that if they caught her it would look as though she had been eavesdropping. After a few seconds she heard them speak again, although she would have given anything in the world not to.

"I was an idiot for thinking that you would be different," John said. His voice was serious again, he had moved beyond his angry state and to Allison, it was much worse.

"Please John..." Claire started. But John cut her off.

"I'm done Claire," he said. And without a word of goodbye Allison heard him walk away. She stood waiting, listening to Claire's sobs from behind the bushes. She wanted to walk over and comfort her but she couldn't think of a way of doing it without admitting that she had been listening. Even though it had been unintentional, she didn't think Claire was in a state to understand. Soon the click of Claire's heals echoed through the night as she made her way back to the party.

Allison ran to the truck and slid inside. It was a few more minutes before she saw Andrew making his way back from the house.

"Sorry about that," he said. "Jake is a belligerent drunk and it took quite a few of us to tackle him down. What's wrong?"

She had been staring at him struggling to over whether or not to tell him what she had just witnessed. Although she trusted him to keep it a secret, she felt as though it should be Claire and John's problem and no one else's. Besides, she was going to tell Claire that she had accidentally heard them talking and wanted to be able to add, without it being a lie, that she had not told anyone about it.

"Nothing. I'm just tired," she told him. And Andrew satisfied with her answer drove them home.

Later on, in her bedroom, Allison sat thinking about how she was going to approach Claire on the situation. It was obvious that things were rocky between her and Bender, she had been so upset, and she probably needed someone to talk to. Allison didn't think that Jennifer or Sylvia were going to be much help in that area. In fact, she was almost sure that Claire's friends were part of the problem. She had resolved to bring it up to her on Monday, during school, when the first wave of sleep came over her.

By lunch on Monday Allison had not seen Claire. As she made her way to the table with Andrew she looked over at her table and saw Jenny and Leslie but no Claire. While she was eating she pretended to be mildly interested at what one of the wrestling girls was saying. Apparently she had a problem with a dress she was having made; Allison couldn't even remember the girl's name let alone the answer to the question she had just asked. Instead of admitting she had not been listening to her fascinated tale of bad tailoring, she excused herself from the group and walked over to Claire's table. Jenny and Leslie were deep in conversation talking in harsh whispers but when they caught sight of Allison they immediately looked up at her and smiled.

"Hey Ally! Have a seat," Jenny said pointing to the seat directly in front of her. Although Allison had caught a snippet of the obviously heated conversation there was no sign of unpleasantness in her voice.

"Oh, no thanks," Allison responded as she continued standing. "I was actually looking for Claire. I have something I need to ask her."

The two girls looked at each other questioningly as Leslie finally answered, "I think she said something about going to her car to get something. She should be back soon." Clearly satisfied with her answer Leslie turned down to her lunch. While she poked at her hotdog she added, "Come on sit down."

Determined to continue her search for Claire she declined the offer once again and excused herself for the restroom. Instead of making a beeline to the ladies room she turned and walked towards the student lot. If there was any truth in what Leslie had said she might still catch Claire in her car. Allison had no reason to think they had been lying but the way the girls had looked at each other it had seemed as though their urgent conversation had been about Claire. She spotted Claire's Volvo in the senior section of the lot but it was empty. In frustration Allison looked around and stopped when something caught her eyes. There was someone walking towards the old bungalows. She even thought she caught a flash of red bandana as they disappeared around a building. Turning towards the building she thought that if she wasn't going to find Claire at least she could talk to the other side of the Saturday incident.

When she made her way around the corner she found Bender sitting on the concrete steps. The familiar red tip of a cigarette was flashing in his mouth. He took a lengthy hit of his cigarette his face showing every sign of frustration; it didn't take Allison much to know that he was upset. Unsure of how to approach him, Allison considered coming clean about Saturday night but quickly decided against it when she remembered how temperamental he was. Unwilling to waste anymore time, she did the first thing that came to her mind.

"Can I bum a smoke?" she asked, trying to keep her face as blank as possible.

"You smoke?" he asked curiously but handed it to her anyway.

"Oh yeah I love it," she said as she inexpertly put it in her mouth and Bender lit it for her. She took it out before inhaling and held it awkwardly between two fingers. "The caf was getting to stuffy so I came out for some fresh air and now I am inhaling carcinogens. Go figure." She put the lit cigarette to her mouth but took it out as she sat down next to him.

"So how's your promotion to top bunk going? They welcome you with open arms?" He was trying to start a conversation but he wasn't looking at her. Allison could tell that he wasn't at all interested in learning about her social life.

"It's good enough," she answered and not wanting to skip a beat, continued, "How are things on your end of the cabin? Everything alright?" With this last question she turned to see if his expression had changed, she thought she saw a dark shadow cross his face but it was gone before she could be sure.

"Peachy," he said sarcastically. "It's not like I was expecting something."

"I don't suppose you want to talk about it?" she asked. When Bender didn't respond she turned and looked out at the football field. It was a few seconds before she looked down and realized that her cigarette was about to die. She quickly threw it on the ground and put it out with her shoe.

Bender was looking at her, it seemed as though he was aware that she had not taken a single hit off the cigarette. Allison was afraid he would yell at her for wasting a perfectly good cigarette but he didn't.

"There's nothing to talk about. The world is just so full of bull and I seem to get caught up in it," he said throwing his cigarette onto the ground. "It's the way it's always been."

His voice dropped a little and she could sense he was hurt, although he was trying hard to keep it hidden.

"Does this have anything to do with Claire?" she finally asked breathing a little easier as she was finally able to make the transition to the topic.

"Is this what you came here for Allison?" Bender asked. Any note of hurt was quickly replaced with anger. His voice was laced with rage, just like it had been back at the library. He continued, "To play therapist? You are the last person who should be giving advice"

"I was just asking," she said unable to hide the hurt feeling from her voice. "And what the hell's that supposed to mean?'

"You sold out. You gave everything up just to make out with your Trojan boy."

Allison was angry. She did not expect to hear this from Bender. She hadn't expected him to turn the situation around on her. And once more, she did not like being called a sell out. "I didn't give anything up Bender," she said. "My life, as you can remember, wasn't perfect. I was simply willing to fight for what I wanted. Something you should probably try with Claire."

"You don't know shit about that!" he yelled. "Claire is insensitive and I am not a fucking sell out alright?" He started to walk away.

"So that's what this is about?" she called to his back. "You think that's the only way she'll take you back, if you change?"

He stopped suddenly and turned. She could still see anger on his face but his voice was a lot calmer. "You really don't know shit," he laughed. "Claire doesn't expect me to do anything; she doesn't want to be with me."

"I don't believe that," she responded. But Bender did not reply he simply walked away leaving Allison standing by herself. The smell of cigarette smoke followed her all the way back to the cafeteria.

**A/N: As always please let me know what you think.**


	8. The Lighter Side Of Drama

**A/N: hey guys! The move was rough but I'm finally back home. This story is a lot harder to write than I expected so whatever! Please review and tell me you hate it**

**Side note the survey idea was taken from another 80's cult movie. Each line is a different persons response ( I couldnt use different fonts)so tell me which one you think belongs to Allison**

Chapter 8: The Lighter Side of Drama

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Allison was standing over Andy who was talking to his wrestling buddy Rick, who was now looking at Allison with an annoyed smirk on his face.

"Yeah," Andrew said. When they were out of earshot he asked, "What's up?"

Allison had been fuming over her conversation with Bender. On her way over to the cafeteria she had decided she was going to tell Andrew everything. At least that way she would be able to vent out her frustrations. She told him about the conversation at the bungalows and even mentioned what she overheard the night of the party.

"I didn't want to say anything before I spoke to Claire," she said explaining her silence to Andrew up till then. "But I haven't seen her. And the talk with Bender just totally flipped me out; I needed to talk about it."

"It's okay," Andrew told her. She could tell that he wasn't upset and she felt better about having someone to talk to.

"He just hit a nerve with that whole 'sellout' shit," she continued. "I mean I might have changed my clothes and people are actually talking to me, but I'm still the same old basketcase as before, right?" She wasn't sure why she needed reassurance. It almost felt the way it had when Katarina, her lab partner, had confronted her before. She wanted to hear what Andrew had to say about it.

"Well," he started and noticing the glare Allison was giving him he continued, "I mean you have to see it the way he does. He doesn't know what's going on so he's coming up with his own ideas. And if Claire wants him to change, well of course that's gonna upset him."

"I can't believe you're siding with him?" she was genuinely offended. "And that shouldn't even matter. If he liked her he would try." She said it but when she did she knew there was no truth to it. Allison could not begin to see Bender changing who he was for anyone, especially a girl.

"Like you did with me?" he asked.

"I guess so," she responded non-significantly. She wasn't in the mood to start that conversation with Andy yet. "Look let's just go to class before we get into a big argument."

_**The Sex Fantasy Survey…**_

**_Answer these questions as truthfully as possible. Remember your name is not on this._**

_**1. How often do you think about sex?**_

_Hard to say. I wasn't thinking about it before but now I am._

_It would be easier to ask how often I don't think about it._

_Every minute of everyday_

_About sixty four percent of the time. _

_I really don't have time for this…_

_**2. If you could give your sexual fantasies a rating what would they be? General, PG-13, or R?**_

_Probably a PG-13 for mild language and no nudity? Is that even possible?_

_Ha, Ha is there anything higher than R?_

_Have to be NC-17 for lots of nudity, violence, and strong language_

_General!_

_This is so stupid. I am not doing this_

**_3. Who would be the main character of your sexual fantasy? It could be anyone so long as they are not dead. Well they could be, if you're into that sort of thing…_**

_David Bowie…he's not dead is he?_

_Jenny Hayworth, since I've already had her._

_The guy that cleans my neighbor's pool but don't tell anyone._

_Senator Charyl Axley, who says power isn't attractive?_

_That's so disgusting I can't believe you guys are actually answering these absurd questions. __Barry Mantelow_

_**4. Title of your fantasy?**_

_Magic Dance and Under Pressure_

_You Want to do What?_

_Wet and Wild_

_A Day at the Office_

_I Love You_

_**(Survey continued on back)**_

Looking down at her unfinished survey, Allison began to pack up her stuff. It was only a few minutes until study hall was over. At least the survey had managed to take her mind off of her confrontation with Bender. She couldn't really blame him for being cruel. The situation with Claire was a sensitive topic and he probably didn't want to hear Allison's opinion, even if she was only trying to help.

Allison was certainly feeling inadequate. After Saturday all she wanted to do was talk to Claire and offer her support but she hadn't even seen her and she had also managed to get on Bender's bad side. Which, as she had learned in detention, wasn't a good place to be.

She made her way out to the hall but instead of making her way to her Spanish Class she ran straight into the bathroom. Her Coke from lunch was finally catching up to her and a sensitive bladder would probably have her confusing her "Como estan?" with her, "muchas gracias."

"Como estan, bitches?" she said under her breath giggling at her endless wit. She took a seat in her favorite stall. It took her a minute to relax but as she waited for relief shepassed the time readingthe supply oftoilet humor Shermer High had to offer. The stalls were covered with the messy, sprawled, and barely legible writing of current and former students.

_There once was a floozy named Annie_

_Whose prices were cozy, but canny?_

_A buck for a fuck_

_Fifty cents for a suck_

_And a dime for a feel of her fanny_

Deeply entertained Allison had just begun reading the line of another one, "There once was a man from Nantucket. Whose…" when she heard the restroom door open. The silent bathroom was now filled with the voices of two girls.

"Why is she acting that way?" one girl asked.

"Beats me," a second girl added."You know, Grace told me she saw her talking to that freak Bender yesterday. If it's true, what the hell is that about?"

"I don't know Les," with a hint of indifference inher voice. "But if she keeps it up people are going to start talking. Come on let's get out of here."

A few seconds later Allison heard the restroom door close and once again she was left in silence.

Later as she was riding home with Andrewfound herself, once again, contemplating whether or not to tell him what she had heard. She was one hundred percent sure that the two voices had belonged to Jenny and Leslie, Claire's friends. It was just Allison's luck that she had been in the restroom when they walked in. Lately she was becoming a magnet for private conversation which she wasn't supposed to be a part of. And Allison was not favoring the retelling of what she had learned, plus it seemed as though Andrew had other things on his mind.

"Is it okay If I go over to your house today?" he asked her.

"I guess so," she answered totally aware that she could not keep him a secret any longer. "My parents won't be home until later anyway so it'll be okay."

"Thanks," he said patting her gently on the hand. "It's just that my old man has been riding my ass all week. He doesn't think I'm doing enough to prepare for the next match."

"Not doing enough?" Allison said in genuine shock. "That's such bull. We've been staying late after school for days now. This is the first time you've had an afternoon free. What the hell is he playing at?"

"Yeah I know," he agreed. "But that isn't enough for him. The only way he'd ever be satisfied is if I spent every waking minute in the fucking gym. I just don't want to be around him today."

She didn't respond. Andrew had put on his serious father face and she understood this as a sign not to ask anymore questions. The past few weeks with Andrew had given her an open window to his life and all the horrible stuff he had mentioned about his dad in detention were turning out to be true. Allison thought about the two extremes. On the one hand, Andrew had a father who was freakishly controlling, on the other hand, was Allison's dad who simply ignored her. It was hard to decide which one was worse.

As they drove up to her house Allison's stomach gave a lurch. Her mom's Corssica was parked in the driveway. It was inevitable she was going to have to make the dreaded introduction.

**A/N: short chapter I know but like i said before whatever. Anyways, please review! Ciao**


	9. Nobody Knows

**A/N: I like this chapter and I dont know why. Anyways i am going to try and take advantage of my surge of energy. ciao for now**

Chapter 9: Nobody Knows

"Shhh!" Allison whispered to Andrew as she guided him into the house. She had taken hold of his hand as was leading him to the stairway. All she could think to do was to run straight into her room and remain there for the rest of the night. At least this way she would avoid all of her mother's questions.

It seemed they were going to make it. They were halfway up the stairs when a voice called from below "Allison is that you?"

Annoyed, Allison responded, "Yes mother, it is," and under her breath said, "Curse her mutant hearing." She waited as the sound of her mother's footsteps made their way from the kitchen to the hallway.

Mrs. Reynolds emerged with a kitchen towel in her hands. Allison could see that she was still in her work clothes; a white apron was tied around the front of her pant suit. To an outsider, Mrs. Reynolds would have seemed innocent enough but Allison knew what was lurking behind her plastic smile. She could see the wheels in her mother's head turning as she looked from Allison to Andrew, the smile never fading from her face, it was almost maniacal.

"Well Allison, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" she said in the same sing song voice Allison had grown to despise.

It was anger that kept Allison from saying anything for a full thirty seconds. She stood at the foot of the stairs staring at the woman before her well aware of the little act she was putting on. Mrs. Reynolds was trying to pretend as if she actually had an interest in her daughter's life. All Allison wanted to do was tell her how pathetic she was and run out the front door. Sensing the ensuing danger it was Andrew who took the first action.

"Hello, Mrs. Reynolds," he held at his hand which she took eagerly. "My name is Andrew Clark. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Mrs. Reynolds smiled pleasantly at the young man standing before her. Allison could see the way her mothers eyes scanned the letterman jacket. And with a final look at his handsome face she broke out into another grin.

"Well," she added. "It is nice that Allison has finally brought you by." She looked over at Allison who was still glaring at her. If looks could kill her mother would have hit the floor the moment she walked out of the kitchen. "Now I insist you stay for dinner."

Andrew responded with a yes before Allison could send him a look of pleading. The last thing she wanted to do was spend an hour at her mother's mercy. The idea of having a conversation over pot roast was not as inviting as it sounded. Taking hold of Andrew's free hand she led the way to her bedroom. Once inside she wasted no time letting him know what she was thinking.

"What the hell was that all about?" she asked her voice rising with every word.

"What do you mean?" he said his voice riddled with concern.

"You know what I'm talking about," Allison responded not affected by his genuine look of innocence. "What was that? You were playing all nice with my mother kissing her ass knowing exactly how I feel about her."

"Oh, you're getting mad at me for being nice? Is that it?" he was beginning to get angry. "I didn't think it would be to smart to act like a jerk with your mother. I mean, come on. What would she have thought?"

Allison looked at him. She realized that they were still standing in the middle of her room. Reaching out to Andrew, she jerked her bag from his shoulder and threw it on her desk. "Who cares what she thinks?"

"It can't be that bad," he said as he sat on the corner of her bed. "She even invited me to stay."

Allison laughed. She laughed at the absurdity of what Andrew had just said. "Do you think she asked you to stay cause she wanted to be friendly?" she asked. "Come on Andrew don't you see what this is? She's just doing it so she can ask you all sorts of ridiculous questions and make a fool out of me! You're not staying," she said. It wasn't a request she knew that Andrew staying for dinner would be bad news.

"What?" he said half laughing, almost as if he thought her comment a joke. "Come on Allison, it can't be that bad?"

"It's just that," Allison said defeated. "Well, nobody knows what its like."

"Let's just try to get some work done," he told her. It was clear the he was trying to avoid an argument.

They sat in silence doing there work. Allison was staring down at her chemistry homework and realized that she was too angry to do any of it. Of all the people in the world, she thought Andrew would be the one to understand her. After all that she had told him at the library did he actually believe that she would want him to have dinner with her mom? They had been going out for a few weeks now and she had not even mentioned him to her parents. The way she saw it, it was none of their business. And now Andrew had screwed things up.

While she was pretending to do her work she could feel his constant stares on the back of her neck. He obviously wanted to make sure she wasn't angry but Allison didn't want to give him the satisfaction of finding out. When her mother finally called them down for dinner they had not spoken a single word.

On the way down the hall Andrew grabbed a hold of Allison's hand and pulled her to a stop. "Hey" he said, his eyes searching hers. "Are you alright?"

"What do you think?" she spat. It felt bad, being mean to Andrew, especially when she saw the hurt look that crossed his face. But she had not forgiven him and now they were making their way down to dinner with her mother.

"Andrew," her mother exclaimed as soon as they walked into the dining room. "You can take that seat right there." She pointed to a seat directly across from hers. Knowing well that her mother was not going to offer her a seat Allison sat at the head of the table.

The table was laid out with the good china, which was normally reserved for holidays and special occasions. With her arms crossed in front of her chest Allison could not find anything special about the present situation. It looked as though her mother was trying to impress Andrew. Allison even noticed that Mrs. Reynolds had changed out of her work clothes into a more formal outfit.

"I hope you like it Andrew," her mother told him. She took the glass top off of the pan in the middle of the table and revealed a whole roasted chicken. There was also a plate of mashed potatoes and asparagus for sides. Although the food looked and smelled delicious Allison could not help but feel disgusted about her mother's conduct.

"So Andrew," her mother started once they had begun eating. "What kind of sports do you play?"

Andrew was slicing up the juicy piece of chicken on his plate. Allison had hoped that the food would be awful but it wasn't. When she took a bite of her asparagus it was actually good. At least her mother was a decent cook. After taking a bite of the chicken and wiping his mouth on a napkin Andrew answered, "I wrestle Mrs. Reynolds. By the way the food is delicious."

"Oh," her mother laughed. "Thank you." She was blushing and giggling like a school girl. Allison was fighting back the urge to throw her glass of water across her mother's face, anything to rouse her out of the fantasy role that she was trying to play. "I'm sure your mother is a better cook," she added.

"If she were as good as you," Andrew offered, "I would never leave my house."

"You are so sweet," she smiled. "Now you are a senior, I suppose?"

"Yes mam," Andrew answered. He took a sip of his water and wiped his mouth yet again. "I'll be starting U.I. in the fall."

"Such ambition!" Mrs. Reynolds exclaimed. She raised the glass of red wine to her mouth and finally turned towards Allison.

"Your friend here is so charming," Mrs. Reynolds added lowering her glass. "Tell me Allison, how did _you_ ever manage to catch him?"

The room was silent her mother turned towards Allison and waited for her response. Andrew suddenly found his food more interesting and lowered his head avoiding her eyes. Allison's face was as red as she felt inside. Her mind was swimming. Her mother was acting like a complete idiot and Andrew was deliberately trying to impress her. She had been watching the conversation transpiring before like someone would watch a tennis match. She turned from her mother to Andrew and every time they would answer each other her anger would rise. She thought they were both mad pretending as if all was peachy. As if her life was as perfect as the dinner they were having.

"What the fuck kind of question is that?" she asked her mother angrily.

"Allison," Andrew began.

"You stay out of this," she told him.

"It's okay Andrew," her mother said losing once again her sing song tone. "Allison just hasn't got proper manners."

"Shit if I do," Allison yelled. She stood up the table shaking slightly. "Since when do you care, _Mother_? Quit putting on a show, we all know you don't care. You don't give a rat's ass about me."

"Well I would care," her mother said looking back down at her plate. "If you weren't so shut off all of the time, honestly Allison is there a reason why you are always so strange?" Turning to Andrew she added, "Don't worry Andy we're not all like that."

It wasn't as though her mother hadn't said this to her before. It was her mother's favorite way to describe her. 'That Allison is so strange' she would tell her father. 'I don't know what to do?' The difference was that today Andrew was sitting next to her. He had remained surprisingly quiet throughout the last part of her conversation but at her mother's comment he shifted nervously in his seat.

Without looking in his direction Allison said, "I'll walk you out."

They left her mother in the dining room with three plates of unfinished dinner.

Upstairs, Andrew tried to talk to her. "Allison?" he asked quietly.

"I don't want to talk about it," she snapped. She could feel the prickle of tears in her eyes so she avoided his face. When they had gathered his things Allison made her way quickly to the front door. Outside Andrew waited for her to say goodbye but when she didn't, he simply gave her a kiss on a cheek and walked away to his truck. Allison flinched when she felt his lips on her face and her heart was pounding with rage. It was a few seconds before she noticed her father's car parked in the driveway. The engine was off and so were the lights. He had been sitting there in the dark and had just witnessed the entire scene.

**A/N: dont forget your review and my juice box**


	10. Conversations

**A/N: Warning: this chapter contains filling. Not cherry filling but plot filling. Anyways mad shout out to my faithful reader/reviewer felicia, thanx...enjoy!**

Chapter 10: Conversations

'Great,' Allison thought to herself, 'The other one's here.' Turning back to the house Allison made her way back to the bedroom, the faint rumbling sound of the dishwasher following her up the stairs.

The darkness of her quiet bedroom was inviting. Without turning on the lights, she quickly spread herself over her bed and allowed her thoughts to wander. The events of the night were still swimming in her head. Mrs. Reynolds rude behavior wasn't new. In the seventeen years of her life Allison had grown accustomed to the constant insults and insensitive comments. But today her mother had decided to let Andrew in on the game as well. That's what had hurt the most. It had been an awful night but Allison did not expect her mother to see it as such and apologize.

Andrew, on the other hand, would probably try and apologize as soon as he reached home. Anticipating his call and an awkward conversation, Allison rolled over and unplugged her phone line. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear his apology and she wasn't sure if she would accept it either.

It had been a dreadful night and as the stillness grew, the first waves of sleep overcame her.

It wasn't the alarm or the voice of a deejay that roused Allison out of her sleep. For a while she sat up on her bed trying to remember why she had woken up so suddenly, and then she felt it. Deep in the pit of her stomach the gruesome sensations of menstrual cramps were surfacing. Looking down at herself and cursing loudly she realized she was still in her school clothes. On top of everything that she had been through already, she had started her period. She quickly made her way to the bathroom to clean up.

The next time she awoke it was with a frantic rush. Last night as she was changing into her pajamas she had decided that it would not be a good idea to ride with Andrew to school that morning. Unwilling to take the school bus either Allison put aside her pride and thought about asking her father for a lift. If she wanted to catch him still at home, she would have to make her way downstairs quicker than usual.

She found him at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the morning paper. He didn't look up when she entered but Allison did not let it stop her. Clearing her throat loudly she said, "I was wondering if I could get a lift to school. I have to go to the library early this morning and finish some work."

At first, it seemed as though Mr. Reynolds had not heard her, or if he had, that he wasn't going to do it. He put down his coffee cup and began gathering his things. As he opened the front door Allison was beginning to panic and considered calling out to him. But before he stepped outside he said, "Are you coming?"

She hurried over to the refrigerator for her can of Coke and with no time to make a lunch, followed her father to the car. They rode in silence for a while; Allison was already formulating plans on how to avoid Andrew at school, when her father spoke.

"Who was the young man you were with yesterday?" he asked, his deep voice breaking the silence. It was the first time she had heard his voice so clearly in years. Memories of her childhood came flooding back to her. Like the nights she would lay her head against his chest listening and enjoying the rumbling sensation as he read her stories out loud. Shocked into silence Allison stared at her father through the rear view mirror.

More than mere curiosity made Allison mutter, "He's just a friend."

"Well, is he your boyfriend?" he asked without taking his eyes off the road.

Still out of sorts from the unusual conversation she answered, "Yeah I guess." Her curiosity was fading fast as she realized where the discussion was leading.

"I hope you are being careful," he said. It was a loaded request one that made Allison wonder what her father was thinking. It was obvious that he thought she was having sex, since they were having the dreaded 'talk'.

At this point Allison no longer felt like giving him any more information. And if Mr. Reynolds had asked another question she would have responded with an angry, 'It's none of your business!' But it seemed as though the speech was over and they drove in silence the rest of the way.

At school, Allison watched as her father pulled out of the driveway without even a glance in her direction. Sighing to herself, and without any other choice, she made her way to her first class.

It was the first time in the year that she arrived early to Mitchell's. She suspected the old geezer would have a heart attack when he walked and saw that Allison was already there. As she took her regular seat she noticed that there were already some students waiting. Alan Micheal was sleeping on one of the desks nearby. She vaguely remembered something about his being on the swim team which would explain his early appearance.

Taking out her notebook and a pencil Allison was planning to doodle the time away. But with the blank page staring up at her and the events from the night before still fresh in her mind she could not find the motivation. Her imagination was tainted and she looked down at the page in disgust.

"What's wrong?" someone asked. She looked up to see Alan staring at her. His curly blonde hair was still wet from practice and his dark blue eyes were slightly red from the chlorine.

"It's nothing," she answered. Tired of all the recent arguments in her life, there was no sarcasm in her voice.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Alan responded as he stretched his long body in his seat and yawned. "It looks like you've got a lot on your mind."

Allison had no idea why he was concerned. It was the strangest sensation, having someone who had pestered her so strongly before take sudden interest in her well being. More unsettling was the fact the she was being so civil to Alan after all that he had done.

"Yeah," she said simply.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," he said smiling. Allison could not help but notice how straight his teeth were. Her smile broke into a laugh as she realized the strangeness of the situation. She was having a normal conversation with Alan, of all people.

"What's so funny?" he asked smiling.

"Nothing," she said. "It's just that you aren't half bad when you are not making fun of me or looking down my shirt."

"I know!" he exclaimed. "That's what I've been trying to tell everyone!"

They were both laughing as the bell signaling the beginning of the school day rang.

Trying to avoid any situation that would have her talking to Andrew before she was ready to, she decided to spend her break indoors. The problem was that aside from sitting in front of her locker, she did not know where to go. If she did wait in front of her locker Andrew might find her there. She opted instead to roam around the halls for a while and then spend the rest of the time sitting in the stall of her favorite bathroom. As she was making her way up one of the hallway stairs she heard someone call her name.

Turning she saw Brian running towards her. "Hey Ralph," she said. "What's going on?"

"Lot's," he said panting. There was geeky excitement in his voice. "I was hoping to run into you guys," he looked around and stopped when he realized she was alone. "Where's Andy?" he asked.

"Oh," Allison said as she straightened herself up. "I don't know," she told him and quickly added, "What's it all about?"

"Well," he said the worried expression on his face fading and quickly replaced by excitement. "I've entered the science fair."

Allison looked at him as if asking, 'And.'

Noticing her expression he continued. "I was wondering if you and Andy might like to come." He leaned in closer and looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Not to toot my own horn," he said quietly. "But I think I have a pretty good chance of winning."

"I really don't want to hear about you tooting your own horn," she said smirking. "But sure, I'll come."

"Great," Brian said grinning widely. "And you'll tell Andy too?"

"Yeah, whatever," Allison said avoiding his gaze. The bell rang not a minute too soon. Brian had looked as though he was about to ask her what was wrong. She didn't feel like starting _that_ conversation with him so she said goodbye and made her way to class.

In Chemistry Allison found herself once again at the mercy of Katarina. Harping on the success of the previous experiment Weiner had decided to keep the class paired off in the same way for the next assignment.

Allison didn't mind to much working with 'Kat', as she like to be called, it was just that the girl had a way of making Allison feel uncomfortable. Kat was always asking inappropriate question and making blunt observations. Like the day she had said, "It seems the popular kids will let anyone in as long as they look good." Unable to respond Allison had ignored her comment and continued turning up the flame on her burner. Allison didn't really feel like working with Kat for the entire hour, especially with everything that had happened, but she had no choice.

They worked on the assignment in silence for the first few minutes but then as they waited for the liquid mixture to reach the appropriate temperature Kat turned her brown eyes towards Allison and stared.

"You look bad," she said. It wasn't posed as a question. It was a blunt observation that always caught Allison off guard.

"Thanks," she answered ungratefully. She tried to stop Kat from continuing by concentrating on her notes, but Kat kept on.

"What's wrong?" she asked suspiciously. "Did your friends turn against you?"

"What?" she asked in disbelief. Kat seemed to have no self control. It was almost as if she asked questions just because she wanted to. Angrily Allison continued, "What makes you think they would?"

Kat had not been fazed by Allison's sudden outburst. In fact, she hadn't seemed to notice. She simply shrugged and said, "I don't know, it's just something they do."

"Look," Allison said as her frustration peaked. "Why don't we just get this done, alright?"

"Fine," Kat said her voice showing no signs of regret.

Allison stared at Kat as they worked. She was an awkward person who asked uncomfortable questions. Kat's blunt observations always caught Allison of guard. The girl certainly had a way with people. Allison hoped that it would be the last conversation she had with her.

**A/N: Now please do review cause my fingers love reading them!**


	11. Lunch With the Girls

**A/N: I'm just going on a whim here so please bear with me. And if you in any way wonder how sparatic I truly am, pay close attention to Leslie's manner of speaking. She is so totally like me!**

Chapter 11: Lunch With the Girls

"Hey Al," Jenny called.

Allison was about to make her way out to the football bleachers when she saw Jenny waving her down. Reluctantly, Allison turned and followed Jenny's persistent smiles.

"Where have you been?" she asked in a serious tone. "I haven't seen you around in, like, forever. Come on, you're gonna have lunch with us." She grabbed a hold of Allison's elbow and led her to the cafeteria. Leslie was walking along with them but she hadn't said a word. In fact, if Allison hadn't known any better she would have guessed that the two girls had just been arguing.

Although Allison had no desire to go into the cafeteria, she was too tired to protest. So she allowed herself to be pulled towards their table. Looking around she quickly noticed that something was different. Claire's seat was still vacant.

"Where's Claire?" she asked Leslie. When she heard the name, Leslie's dark eyes lit up and it looked as though she was about to say something when Jenny cut in. "Oh, who cares? Let's eat," she said putting her stuff down and standing up.

A while later the girls had walked through the meal line. Allison had picked up a can of coke, both Leslie and Jenny opting for a school lunch which consisted of ham sandwiches and chips.

"Are you dieting?" asked Jenny as she looked down at Allison's empty hands.

"No I'm just not hungry," she said honestly. Allison had not eaten the whole day but she wasn't the least bit hungry. She supposed it had a little to do with her monthly visitor and her increasingly bad mood.

"I should go on a diet to," Jenny exclaimed as she patted her flat stomach. She clearly hadn't heard a word of what Allison had said. "What do you think, Leslie?"

"Oh, yeah," she answered with a laugh. "You're a fucking cow."

"I know right?" she agreed. "I'll just do what Al does. I'll live off caffeine." She picked up the can of Coke and began reading its contents.

"Huh?" Allison said a little confused. The girls chatter had turned into background noise as soon as she had spotted Andrew making his way across the cafeteria.

Leslie was about to repeat what had been said when she noticed Allison's expression. Following her gaze she saw Andrew.

"Andrew," she cried. "Hey!"

"Sit down," Jenny quickly added.

"Um, no thanks," he said mildly. He was staring at Allison but Allison wasn't looking at him. She pretended to be deeply interested in the plastic wrapping of the ham sandwich. "I actually need to talk to Allison."

Both Jenny and Leslie were staring at their newly acquired lunch guest. Allison fought back the urge to run from the table and hide in the girl's bathroom but instead she said, "I don't feel like talking to you just yet."

She still wasn't looking at Andrew but she heard him sigh heavily as he contemplated what she had said. Finally he managed something that sounded like, "Well, if I call you tonight will you at least answer the phone?" but Allison, already embarrassed by the way Jenny and Leslie were staring at her, simply responded, "Yeah sure, whatever," before he had a chance to finish the thought.

"Fine," Andrew said clearly defeated. He stood at the table and looked at Allison a while longer before he left.

Allison felt the heat rising in her face. She didn't want to be so hateful towards Andrew but she was still angry, and she certainly did not want to start a discussion in front of Claire's group.

The girls watched Andrew walk back to his table. With his hands in his pockets he seemed to sulk as the other's laughed around him. Jenny smiled widely as she looked from Andrew to Allison and said, "What was that all about?"

"Yes, tell?" Leslie said in a tone of childish curiosity.

"What, that?" Allison said while looking over at Andrew catching his eye, and looking back down again quickly. "It's nothing we just had a little fight."

"Little?" Jenny asked, unconvinced. "Andy looked positively dreadful! What did you do to him!" Although the question was riddled with concerned, Jenny wasn't. In fact, the way she was smiling about it, it seemed as though the blonde was enjoying Allison's spat of drama.

"Oh!" Leslie exclaimed. "Was it another guy?" She looked around the cafeteria, her light brown swinging in the process, as if trying to scope out Allison's potential fling.

"No," Allison said, laughing mildly. In light of the situation she couldn't resist the humor of Leslie's outrageous comments. "It's nothing."

"You little heartbreaker," Jenny said as Leslie nodded her head in agreement. "Who would have ever guessed?"

"Yeah, right" Allison answered. Wanting to be out of the spotlight, at least for the time being, she searched desperately for a way of changing the subject. She went with the first thing that came into her mind.

"So?" she asked. "What exactly is up with Claire?"

Leslie looked over at Jenny, who apparently out of energy now that Allison's drama was put to rest, merely shrugged. Taking it as a sign to proceed, Leslie leaned in close to Allison and looked around quickly as if making sure no one was listening.

"Well," she began. "You aren't going to believe it. See we have been getting totally bad vibes from her for a while now. It's been like that since, I don't know?"

"Since the day of that detention," Jenny offered.

"Yeah," continued Leslie. "Well since that detention she had been acting all weird you know? Like distant and stuff. And we were like 'what's going on', right? But she kept saying it was nothing. And then the day of Grace's party she like disappeared and all, and than on Monday Gracetold us that shehad seen her talking to that Bender freak! So, Jenny and I decided to confront her about it and she totally denied it!She was like 'you guys don't understand' and stuff like that. Well, so then she wouldn't talk to us. And," she looked over at Jenny as if wondering whether or not to continue. When she didn't protest, Leslie went on, "Well, Grace's mom who works in the same office as Claire's dad said that they filed for divorce a couple of days ago and we haven't seen her since."

The rumor mill at Shermer High was working overtime with this piece of information and Allison, as out of the loop as she was, had only caught on until today. It did nothing more than discomfort her, she had been trying all week to get in a good talk with Claire but had failed miserably. Now, she felt guilty for not being able to offer Claire support when she needed it the most.

Noticing the grim expression that had crossed Allison's face Jenny leaned in and spoke, "Look, we all feel bad about what happened. But Claire's going about it the wrong way," she sat back and threw her half eaten sandwich back onto her tray. She looked offended. "I mean we're her fucking best friends."

"Yeah, Allison," Leslie added. "What can that Bender freak do for her?"

Avoiding the glances the girls were now giving her, Allison thought back to the time at the library. Claire had said a lot about herself during that detention, more so, Allison supposed, than she had told her best friends. And it would take a complete idiot not to notice the obvious sparks that flew between her and Bender. It was possible, that aside from a physical connection, the unlikely pair had formed an emotional bond. A bond that would ease the pain current events had caused Claire. Something, Allison knew, her current lunch mates would not understand.

And in light of everything that she knew, Allison merely said, "I don't know." She sat quietly as Jenny and Leslie started discussing a random topic involving toothpicks and peacocks. Her heart felt heavy with burden. First it had been her mother and Andrew, and now it was Claire. The bell finally shrieked and she was shaken from her moody thoughts.

"I'll see you guys later," she called. But turning back she noticed Leslie running a brush absentmindedly through her hair, and Jenny giggling with Alan Micheal. Shrugging Allison made her way to her next class.

In study hall, Allison felt a sudden urge to draw. Taking out a piece of notebook she began swiping her pencil smoothly across the page enjoying the effect of the dark lead adding color to the otherwise gleaming white background. Instead of a landscape, as she so often drew, she drew a circular lunch table. She wasn't a portrait maker, so instead of people, there was only clutter on the table. There were empty milk cartons, half eating sandwiches, and crumbled bags of chips. It could have been any of the lunch tables at her school, that she was drawing, except for the few items placed strategically across that gave a hint as to the table's occupants. There was a small plastic brush with long brown hairs tangled in it, a pink purse, and a lonely diamond stud. The picture didn't make much sense, as a piece of art, but Allison couldn't help but feel sad as she looked down at it.

When the bell rang, she folded the drawing carefully and put it into her pocket. As therapeutic as drawing had always been for her, she still felt noticeably depressed.

When the school day ended, Allison depression worsened as she thought about her inevitable ride on the school bus. She walked quickly in an attempt to avoid Andrew but as her bus came into view she stopped. The days she had spent in freedom of the metal cage had been pure bliss, and now she was faced with the sudden urge to walk, to escape its wretched claws. She queued up with the rest of the loners and was about to get on when she heard her name being called.

Unaware of whom it was, or if it had truly been a rescue mission, she stepped eagerly out of line and looked around. Relief swept over her as she noticed Jenny's red convertible a few feet away. Thanking her silently under her breath, Allison made her way over to her.

"Get in," she yelled. "I've got something to tell you."

**A/N: i am so lonely, please please please review! Thanks**


	12. Take Me On

**A/N: Just thought I'd add this short chapter to keep you guys updated.**

Chapter 12: Take Me On

"…and then he asked me what we were doing on Friday. So, I hope you don't mind, I told him we were free. And now, we are all going out," Jenny had been talking non stop since Allison got into the car.

"Wait a minute?" Allison interrupted for the first time. As fast as Jenny spoke, it was hard to get a word in. "You told him that I would hang out, with him?"

"Yes," Jenny answered not remotely concerned about the tone Allison's voice had taken. "What's wrong with that? I mean, Alan is cute, right?"

"It's not that," Allison added. She was beginning to get a sense that Jenny really didn't understand, something that did not surprise her in the least. The first thing Jenny had said when she entered the car was that back in the cafeteria Alan had asked about her. Well aware of her situation with Andrew, Jenny had found it easy to tell him that Allison would want nothing more than to hang out on Friday. "Well it's just that Andy and I-"

But Jenny cut her off. "I know for a fact," she started, "that you and Andy have not made it official."

"But-," Allison tried to interrupt.

"Just hear me out Al," Jenny added. "You and Andy were just dating and now you're on a little break. So it's only natural that you explore your options while you sort things out."

Allison's head was hurting. Jenny's line of thinking didn't make any sense. She and Andrew were not on a break, she was just angry. It was a minor, temporary set back, and she couldn't think of any way in which going out with Alan was going to change any of that. Plus, as soon as her anger subsided Allison was going to talk to Andrew and then everything would be right between them. Jenny was making it sound as though their relationship was a lost cause, or superficial at the least.

Changing topics fast, Jenny began talking about the plans for Friday night. She mentioned going out to dinner and catching a late movie or even going down to the pool hall. Allison wasn't listening, her thoughts were elsewhere. She was hoping that her next conversation with Andrew would sort everything out and she could put the whole Alan situation to rest.

Jenny was more than happy to drop Allison off at her house, which turned out to be only a short distance away from her own street.

Before driving away she turned to Allison and said, "Cheer up Al, it should feel good to be liked by everyone." When Allison did not crack a smile Jenny added, "Look, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning okay?"

"Sure," Allison managed. She watched as the red Pontiac pulled out of the driveway and turned down the street.

With nothing more than a coke from the fridge, Allison spent the rest of the afternoon up in the attic trying to do her homework. She found it especially hard to concentrate because she kept casting stares at her phone, even managing to pick up the receiver a few times just to see if the line was clear.

Her thoughts kept creeping back to Jenny and the Alan situation. At first, when she caught them together in the cafeteria, Allison thought he was interested in Jenny. But of course, she found out otherwise. It made her stomach queasy thinking about all the shit Alan had put her through in the past and even more so when she remembered the lame pick up attempts he had resorted to recently. Allison decided that the only way anything could happen between them was if she was completely inebriated, or out of her mind.

Images of white rooms and stray jackets were interrupted when the phone rang.

"_Hello?"_

"_Allison? Hi it's Andrew."_

"_I know"_

"…"

"…"

"_So."_

"_So?"_

"_Well I thought I'd call so we could talk about what happened, you know?"_

"_In other words, you're going to apologize for your behavior at dinner?"_

"_Yes, I mean No. Wait what?"_

"_Oh you forgot how you acted like a complete ass in front of my mother already?"_

"_I didn't do anything wrong, Allison. Don't you think you were over reacting? It wasn't that bad."_

"_Of course, I should be used to all the bashing right? Why should I want anyone stand by me, right?"_

"_I did stand by you!"_

"_You should have said no to dinner Andrew! After everything we talked about at detention did you honestly think I would want to go through with that, with my freaking mother of all people? It was a fucking nightmare!"_

"_I'm not psychic Allison."_

"_I didn't expect a sixth sense Andrew, just a little understanding."_

"_I don't know what to say."_

"_Don't say anything. We just aren't ready for this yet. Listen I'll talk to you later okay? Bye."_

"_Bye."_

Allison waited until she heard the dial tone before hanging up the phone. The conversation had gone nothing like she had expected.

"Fuck," she said as she started getting ready for bed.

When her alarm went off at six, it took all of Allison's strength not to throw the wretched machine out the window and go back to sleep. A million excuses for her to miss school raced through her head as she got ready for school. School had become a drag again. Now that she and Andrew were fighting she had nothing to look forward to. Memories of her days as the bag lady started surfacing in her consciousness but she brushed them away as she combed the tangles out of her wavy hair. Her only consolation was that she wouldn't have to submit to the misery of the bus.

Jenny was in the driver seat of her car, fixing her lipstick in the overhead mirror. The stereo was on full blast and Allison noticed a few of the neighbors peeking from behind closed curtains.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty," Jenny said as Allison squeezed into the back seat of her convertible. "So did you speak to Andy?"

Allison had thought about how she was going to handle the situation all day. The most logical conclusion, and the safest, was that she wasn't going to tell Jenny anything else about what was going between her and Andy. This way she wouldn't have the urge to interfere. Allison wasn't in the mood to talk about it.

"Well," she answered quickly. "I guess he got busy, he didn't call me."

"Poor thing," Jenny exclaimed. "He was probably to scared to talk to you cause he thinks you're going to break up with him. Oh well, at least now you have Friday to look forward to.

"Yeah," Allison said quietly not entirely convinced. She was trying her hardest to come up with an excuse to bail on Friday but couldn't. Allison knew that going out with another guy would not help her relationship with Andrew at all. If anything, it would merely put more strain on it.

Jenny and Leslie rambled on about Friday and the upcoming dance until the arrived at the school parking lot. Not vaguely interested in the theme of the dance "Moonlight Café" Allison had remained quiet for the length of the ride. Once in school she jumped out of the car and said goodbye before either of the girls had a chance to stop her.

Walking into Math the first person she saw was Alan. He was sitting at his desk smiling up at her. It was a smile that Allison recognized; the guy was falling, hard.

"Did Jenny tell you about Friday?" he asked.

"She mentioned it," she said truthfully. "But I don't think it's such a good idea Alan."

"Why? Look we're just going to hang out. It'll be fun. At least it will keep your mind busy so you won't feel bad anymore. You're still feeling bad aren't you?"

"You have no idea," she sighed.

**A/N: Have something to say? Let me hear it.**


	13. Flowers, Spectacles, and Gummy Worms

**A/N: No this story is not abandoned, I just had a bit of writers block induced by bad eating habits, excessive partying, and a new boyfriend. But fear not I have done away with one of those things, try and guess which one? And I may have time to write again! Most likely not for this story, but for my HP stories which are my priority! Anyways this is a silly chapter, feel free to let me know what you think, I rather like it, and as a side note if i get more reviews I might write faster! If it doesn't make sense, don't hate me I didn't sleep at all today and I am now currently watching the beautiful Southern California sunrise (Although it's not so beautiful today since it rained!)**

Flowers, Spectacles, and Gummyworms

It took Allison a moment, on Friday morning, to remember why she was feeling bad. She smiled peacefully, relishing the few seconds of ignorance, which were certainly bliss, when all of a sudden she remembered. She had a date with Alan later on that night.

"Argghhh!" she screamed into her pillow, which was not able to muffle the sounds completely.

Allison's head hurt and for good reason. The past two days had been a blur. Her classes were as dull as always, at least that's what she figured, since her attention span had dropped to that of a three year old. But now her lunches were filled with the mundane, Jenny and Leslie had made it so. They had bombarded her in the halls until she had no choice but to follow them to their, lunch table. There, the conversations were all about gossip and dates, including Friday's. There was no way Allison could have broken away from the two girls without having to face Andy, which she wasn't ready to do. In fact, even Leslie had noticed how he spent most of that hour staring at her in hopes of having a talk. The only thing Allison wanted to do, was to talk to Claire, but she hadn't seen her in days.

So, Allison finally remembered why she had the sense of dread deep within her. Reluctantly, as he digital clock beeped, she hopped out of bed and into the shower.

In front of her vanity, a gift from Mrs. Reynold's which at first Allison had refused, she was still very angry at her mother, but then deciding it was a rather nice piece of furniture, begrudgingly accepted, Allison tried to fake a smile. She tried to perfect the happy face she was certainly going to have to wear later in the evening, but it simply wasn't right. Her face looked distorted and strained, and no amount of make up could cover that up.

With nothing but jeans, leg warmers, and a long sweater, Allison made her way out the front door to meet Jenny,

"Hey" she called. "My don't we look cute?"

"You're kidding right?" Allison asked. "Because I didn't even try!"

"That's what happens when you're popular, Al," Leslie said. "Anything you do or wear is perfect. Own it,"

"Whatever," Allison said.

"I think Alan is totally going to pick you up from your house tonight," Jenny began. "And then from there we'll all meet up at my place and-"

"Wait," Allison interrupted. "Is it possible for him to meet me at your place? I don't want my mom to start on me, and I don't want to have to explain myself to her." Allison was sure that Mrs. Reynold's would try to bombared her with stupid questions if she caught sight of Alan's black Mercedes and not Andy's truck. She didn't want to risk it.

"Fine," she said. "But you tell him."

"Fine."

Walking into Mitchell's class a few minutes later, Allison was prepared to do just that, she wasn't however, prepared for the flowers waiting at her desk. Her heart dropped, as she thought about the possibility of them being from Andy. But when she read the card, a small smile came over her, they was from Alan, he certainly was going all out. And most of the class had noticed too, for they were all whispering behind covered mouths about Allison's fragrant bouquet.

"Thanks," she mumbled as Alan made his way to his desk.

"No problem," he said smiling his smile, and taking in the attention the class was springing on them.

Without a second thought and without truly knowing why, Allison decided it was a good time to tell him.

"Oh, Alan," she said, "about tonight. Pick me up at Jenny's okay?"

"Okay," he said and Allison blushed as several people giggled from their seats.

It was certainly a day for spectacles, as the three girls managed to make it to lunch. Allison was about to call out an excuse, so she could look for Claire, but Jenny was too quick. Sensing Allison's need for escape, she quickly managed to think up a reasonable excuse for her to stay.

"Are you going to want a ride to my house?" she asked pulling Allison towards their table. "Because if you want, we can stop by your house on the way and pick up your outfit and spend the rest of the day there."

"I suppose," Allison said feeling defeated and only half listening to what she was saying.

"Oh look, Al" cried Leslie. "It's your ex."

"My ex?" she asked confused. "What do you mean?"

But before she could answer Allison saw Andy, making his way, once again, to her table.

"Hey, Andy!" cried Leslie and Jenny in unison.

"Hi," he said. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," said Allison and she stood up to meet him. They stepped several feet away and when Allison felt they were out of ear shot from Leslie and Jenny she said, "Are you ready to apologize finally?"

"I was," he said quietly. Allison couldn't shake the feeling that he was acting differently. This wasn't the normal, angry and stubborn Andy she was used to. He continued, "Until I heard about you and Alan."

Allison's heart finally dropped. Shermer High's rumor mill had done it again.

"You heard about that?" she said.

"Allison the whole school's heard."

"Listen the whole thing was a huge mistake and I-"

"I didn't come for an excuse," he interrupted. "I came here because, because I think it's probably a good idea."

"What?" she said a little louder than she intended. Several heads turned in their direction.

"I just think we might have rushed into things. And going out with someone else will probably give you perspective as to what you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said staring into her eyes. Allison could sense his sincerity.

"Fine," she huffed. She smiled before turning away from him and calling out, "See ya!"

It was with newley formed interest that Allison prepared for her date with Alan. It was now clear to her, that Andy was nothing but a hypocrite, a two faced boy who didn't want to step up to what he had done. Instead of apologizing to her, he granted her freedom, and that's not what Allison wanted. Andy didn't know what she wanted, nobody did, and at the moment all she wanted was to get her date with Alan over with. It seemed as though she held her breath those last moments at Jenny's house because when Alan's horn finally blared, she exhaled strongly.

"You look nice," Alan said as he opened the door for her. Jenny was on her way to Cashlin's car, her date for the night.

"Thanks," she replied. Taking the passenger seat Allison pulled down the vanity mirror to check her make up. Her lips needed retouching so she pulled out her gloss and dropped it. Leaning forward, Allison's slim finger began to prod around the bottom of the seat.

"What are you doing, babycakes?" Alan asked.

"It's my gloss," she struggled. "And don't call me-Ahhhh!"

"What?" Alan asked alarmed by her sudden scream. "What is it?"

"A worm!" she cried. "I felt a cold slimy worm under your seat and it ate my lipgloss!"

Alan chuckled.

"You find it amusing?" she glared. "I find a disgusting bug in your rancid car and you think it's funny?"

"It's my gummyworms," he said between laughs. "I keep a stash in the glove compartment. It must have fallen."

"Well, whatever," she said feeling a little foolish. "I still won't go down there and I need my lipgloss."

"Here let me," he said pulling the car to the side. He leaned in and reached under her seat. Being that close to him, Allison could smell his cologne, it was musky but not overwhelming, and she could see his golden tanned skin under his blue collared shirt. It contrasted nicely with his blonde hair.

"Here," he said handing her the gloss.

Allison tried to recover quickly because he had caught her staring.

Pulling the car back onto the road, Alan simply smiled and said, "I'm really glad you came out with me tonight, do you want a gummy worm?"


End file.
